Cold Thermogenesis 6: The Ancient Pathway

Readers Summary

How would you described the “Ancient Pathway” to a warm adapted human?

What are the steps in activating the Ancient Pathway?

Do you need high hormone levels to have big muscles and great power?

Can we eat small, exercise small, lift ridiculously large, live longer, and feel like superman?

Has our modern life kept optimal in our blind spot?

The best way to describe this pathway to the lay public is to explain this is how evolution allows for ideal form to meet function in a tough environment. This environment is likely the primordial environment for life on our planet. This makes astrophysicists excited, because life might also be evolving in places like Titan. After all 5 extinction events on this planet geologist have told us they were followed by an extended cold climate. In cold, mammals live longer. When it is cold, insulin does not work. When it is cold, the sympathetic nervous system dominates. You will find out more about why this happens in Energy and Epigenetics 4 and 5 blog posts.

The pathway uses very little energy from ATP and gives a whole lot to the organism who uses it. Fat burning is required and it is tied to a biochemical pathway that paleo forgot to speak about. Why? Because they no nothing about water chemistry. They believe this is story of food. It is not. Water acts differently in cold than it does in warm. And your cells, and mine, are filled to the brim with water. But it requires cold temperature to be present and used commonly. In the pathway, the less effort you give, the faster and more powerful you will be when this pathway is active. People who live in this pathway can run a marathon with no training. They can lift unreal amounts of weight with little training. Their reserve and recovery are just incredible. You have to see it to believe it. Many will say cold thermogenesis a hormetic process, when in reality it is created using a coherent energy source due to something called the Hall effect. When we have had extinction events on Earth before, the events usually affect the evaporation of water in some fashion from the surface of lakes and oceans. It also affects the transpiration from the forest trees, plants, and flowers and this change cools the air. You must understand how climatology works here; liquid water needs to absorb a lot of latent heat to in order to evaporate, so it sucks energy from the atmosphere to make this energy transfer. This loss of energy from the atmosphere directly cools the planet and this preserves the charge on life’s inner mitochondrial membrane and in the nanotubes present in our cells that contain water. This is how life lives long in the cold.

Those people don’t realize this because they do not live in this pathway for the majority of their life, and few studies have been done to say otherwise. The link above is recently added to this blog post. It seems science is now proving me correct in my theories of extinction events.

Few live in it commonly. And for those who do not live in it, well, no one believes it is possible. Everything about this pathway in the human brain is about optimal mammalian functioning. It is as good, as good gets. My entire life now consists about living within the confines of this pathway. Not everyone will choose too, but when they do get a taste of it, they are just bowled over. The more we induce it, the more beneficial it will be to our health and to our longevity especially when our environment is altered.

Welcome to the leptin-melanocortin pathway of eutherian mammals. Modern life allows us to live outside your biology and this pathway and this pathway brings you inside your optimal self. It is that simple. Optimal is for everyone who wants it. From today on, optimal is now a choice, and not a mystery to humans.

I know this sounds to good to be true. You might be wondering how this all occurs biochemically in our brain?

Non scientists and geeks unite

Step 1. The metabolic trap door to the ancient pathway is found in our eye. The first step in the process is the normal high dietary carbohydrate intakes in summer months when the SCN is entrained to high light levels. During this time many mammals will mate and begin the process of getting ready for winter. So carbohydrates are very good for us in season with high light cycles. This is when they are quite safe. When they do hurt us?

The fact that eNOS entrains the SCN to react to cold, and not light cycles has major implications for autophagy which occurs in sleep in humans, The major function of the leptin receptor in humans is to couple sleep and metabolism, When they are not coupled, due to environmental mismatches, it has major implications for human biology. This is where safe starch theory dies slowly on the vine. Take a look at this link to see how a fetus/newborn is maternally entrained by cold! The Optimal temperature is around 10 degrees celsius which is around 50 degrees F. This is exactly where my cold thermogenesis protocol should put you.

eNOS directly inactivates the function of hypothalamic NPY! NPY is stimulated by carbohydrates in the hypothalamus and it drives carbohydrates cravings and food seeking behaviors. Why would mammals and humans have this hardwired into their DNA and in their brains? Evolution says it is biologically impossible to find carbohydrates in chronic freezing cold conditions because these foods require serious amounts of photons and electrons from sunlight. When it is chronically cold this is not possible in nature, unless an extinction event is on going. That is the short answer. This implies that our food is codified somehow by the photoelectric effect. There are massive benefits to cell membrane signaling when carbs are excluded in a cold environment. Cell membranes have to exclude carbohydrates in cold to function well. This is one part of the reason why diabetics get neuropathy and many other illnesses from glycation.

My job as an Epi-paleo blogger is to point the facts out to you. I’ll let you be the judge of who is correct about the science of what is safe of not. For the skeptics who said I had no proof, more is coming to demolish the safe carb starch dogma in this blog. For those warning of high protein intakes and mTOR signaling, wake up.

Evolutionary thinking is always the king of the mountain. The literature, in my view, takes a back seat to Mother Nature in the new paradigm of healthcare. Nothing trumps the laws of nature.

In my view, Mother Nature always is right, no matter what the modern research says. Most of the research never took this pathway into consideration. The textbooks were written in the 1950’s and the cold adapted pathways of mammals are still not studied even today. Since modern scientists do not know mammals have two major biochemical pathways in which they seasonally operate their data is at best incomplete. Moreover, the research is useless when it is based upon a flawed assumption. (see the cholesterol data as a great example)

What is the major flaw in the modern literature? No one realizes mammals have two metabolic pathways that they live within normally on our planet by evolutionary design. In fact, this is how all mammals evolved 67 million years ago. One pathway dominates spring and summer, and the other dominates fall and winter. It is the mammalian version of Yin and Yang. Moreover, both function in unison on a continuum to make biochemistry work for us over a wide variation of environments we are adapted to. The metabolic pathways governing cold are the bastard child of the modern world, and it has lead to major health care issues for modern man.

If you fight Mother Nature’s rules for mammals, by eating outside normal circadian biology she will bite you in the “ass” every time. There is always a biologic toll to pay for this behavior. You need to be very aware of this biologic fact at all times. My point is clear. Modern man is not aware of this, and in fact, his thoughts, feelings, and beliefs have kept these facts, in his blind spot since the agricultural revolution. I think the American Indians were the last group of modern hominids who really understood these natural laws best. Let us look to the Arctic now for a prime example of how carbs can destroy a cold adapted group by creating a mismatch.

Let us examine the modern Inuits experience in how that experiment has worked out over the last 50 years for their culture. I happen to have a modern Inuit citizen in Nashville, who is quite famous, so I get his insights all the time. The modern Inuit drive warm cars, eat carbs 24/7, have warm houses, and do not have to battle the cold to live any longer in the Arctic. They have conquered their environment. The results of this are seen in their health today. It has vanished in 60 short years.

Modern humans are the only mammals that can create their own environment to subjugate their paleolithic genes to get mismatch because they can alter their diet and environment because of their thoughts and their feelings of well being or sickness. An arctic fox, seal, or polar bear can not do this. For humans, this can work well if your thoughts and feelings are congruent with how our mammalian biochemistry works.

There is one big problem; few people and most of the published science have no clue how it does really work to begin with. This blind spot creates major health issues that we see today in modern civilization. This is why we perceive diabetes and cancer as diseases today when they may represent mismatches in modern human biochemistry.

We must become mindful that those mismatches, may well, kill you. If you eat carbs in a warm adapted world, as modern man does today, you create a huge biologic mismatch. This, in essence, becomes a “reverse leptin Rx experiment”. The same is true of using lights after the sun set in ipad, iphones, and LED TV’s. These mismatches speed up our circadian clocks in a pro-growth mode constantly, while we are young.

You do many things that are pro-growth, that for a time seem to help you, until things falter. Longer term, you pay dearly for this in disease and trashed hormone panels, and terrible energy and a lack of well being. When you are blinded to all this, your feelings of short term gratification keeps these biologic dangers out of your sight and present reality.

To you, they just do not exist.

We essentially become blind to these inherent risks. These results present as a neolithic diseases of aging while you simultaneously lose your stem cells population. This enables you to look like a rock star on the outside while your labs crash and burn (assuming you are smart enough to look) and your slowly die within. This is modern Paleo man’s ultimate paradox.

Check the health records on the native Inuit to see if I am right about this. They are living proof of this mismatch. What has happened to them, is happening constantly to us in the western world now. This is why modern man is mediocre. Thoughts and feelings of a lack of well being on a low carb template today, allows us to falsely believe that carbohydrates maybe” safe starches.” because we examine that data in warm adapted hominids only!

It appears on the surface, that this might improve our feelings of well being. In the short term it does make a modern warm adapted hominid feel better, but the biologic toll is that it speeds up your chemical clocks and it depletes your of your stems cells as you feel better. We can grossly measure this today with the rudimentary telomere tests.

In the Arctic, when these carbs were provided to Inuit by modern transportation, out of the normal circadian cycle of their environment, they were devastated by disease in two generations. You must live congruent to your biology at all times for optimal health. Since 1940 the Inuit have been decimated by neolithic disease. They are very mediocre group today. Albert Schweitzer’s papers on them from 1913, paint a far different view of their culture and phenotypes of what they were like when they ate they way Mother Nature intended them too. There is a huge lesson here for us all.

Step 2. Geek alert: Mammals send their tissue omega 6 to their cell membranes during late summer and all through the fall when the temperature begins to fall and light levels drop. Amazingly, the amount of so-called “n-6″ polyunsaturated fatty acids (those with the final double bond at the sixth position) in the membranes was found to increase dramatically before the start of hibernation in marmots recently, apparently to prepare the body, and particularly the heart, for operation at very low temperatures.

Consistent with this idea, the transition to a higher content of n-6 fatty acids in membranes takes place extremely rapidly just before the animals enter their hibernation chambers. The changes are reversed, again over a short time, around the termination of hibernation in spring, when the animals return to a life at high body temperatures. As the temperature falls further as winter solstice comes, the mammal will then have constructed their cell membranes to further increase flexibility (more omega 3) as the cold increases as the winter deepens. Cell membranes loaded with AGE’s do not work well in the cold. This is a biologic fact.

So evolution makes sure we do not use carbs in the winter. I think some of my cell membrane biology friends at Johns Hopkins University might drop their two cents here in the comments, soon enough. Dr. Patricia Kane’s life long work confirms what I am saying here. In fact, there is a neural pathway that shuts off all carbohydrate cravings to bolster this evolutionary dictum. Moreover, Mother

Nature has selected for a special taste receptor to fluorish in cold called CD36. In cold, we need fat not carbs. In fact, we saw in CT five that it requires a more fluid membrane to get proper signaling to work. When signaling is broken disruptions continue further in the chemical clocks of organs. This is why diabetics have so many unusual organ diseases (eye, nerve, kidney, brain) tied to their diagnosis as the process worsens.

This process is controlled by surface skin cold receptors and wiring from the mouth, gut, Peripheral Nervous System and to the Central Nervous System via the spinal cord and then to the brain. The brain gets inputs of this tract from the vagus nerve, and from a CD 36 receptor in the mouth which relays sensory inputs to the spinal cord and from the surface cold receptors.

What does CD 36 do for mammals? CD36 is an oral receptor in the lingual papillae of taste buds that mediated perception of long-chain fatty acids. It involves the gustatory neural pathways in cranial nerve 9 and 10 (glossophayrngeal nerve and the vagus nerve). These inputs head to the floor of the fourth ventricle (area postrema) of the hind brain to synapse in the nucleus of the solitary tract. Here they interact with the somatic sensory cold receptor system of the face and of the body.

The mere presence of the CD36 receptor in all mammals suggests that mammals are built by evolutionary design to have a “taste” for fatty foods in cold. the fact that the SCN also wires to the hypothalamus to turn off NPY is another big clue why we should not eat carbs in the winter. This evolutionary designed system constitutes a physiological advantage under conditions of food scarcity (in winter’s cold environments) by leading the mammal to select and absorb fatty foods when cold is the predominate sensory afferent delivered to the area postrema.

This sensory neural processing is far more efficient in water based mammals because water transmits cold afferents more effectively. These mammals, also have a huge dietary source of omega three’s in the deep polar seas to allow for them to do this. Land based mammals use more omega 6’s in their tissues to increase flexibility and fluidity for signal transduction because the thermal barriers they face are not as steep as water based mammals. This is why I cautioned people early on, that 0mega 6 fats are not always bad for humans here. Mammalian neural circuitry is the key to understanding where optimal really lies. If you do not understand the essence of what we are, you remain blinded to what may harm us too.

HCG dieting alert: Eating MCT, in winter is probably not the best choice for a cold adapted mammal, because they do not help fluidity of cell membranes. This is why we see so many problems in the literature with saturated fats in humans. The results did not make sense and researchers attributed them to disease generation. They did not make sense because they were studying animals at different stages of their mammalian biochemistry.

These fats also can make a cold adapted mammal gain weight when eaten off season because of this mismatch. This is a reverse analogy to the one I used in the Paleo Summit with the banana in Canada. If you want to see proof of this fat reversal ask any person who uses the HCG diet how coconut oil or palm oil work for them on protocol. In short it sucks. Why? those oils protect warm adapted mammals eating tons of carbs. This is why CO and Palm oil are tropical oils and not found in our polar regions.

When you ask a human who uses HCG for dieting, you will find they do not do well with MCT’s during their HCG protocol use for this reason. In winter, mammals prefer animal fats like ghee, tallow, lard, bacon grease, and pastured butter as the best choices. This is wired into our brain by the CD 36 receptor and the floor of the fourth ventricle in humans too. Seafood is always a good choice no matter what season we are in. Pastured meats and offal are ideal too. Evolution is dictating what we should eat not Dr. Kruse. I am merely pointing out what many in our community are blind too today. I hope to change your reality tonight with this knowledge.

Human Obesity Caveat: MCT however, will help the obese human however to reverse weight loss in winter because they are a far better choice than any carbohydrate at this time. It was my number one diesel fuel I used for my own weight loss. It will also make the obese person radiate heat if they use it in fall and winter which is a good sign that they are fat burning and not sugar burning. Coconut oil and palm oil are the ideal fats for spring and summer uses for humans. This works only for reversal of a disease and not for optimal living. I have a plan for optimal living once you reverse your disease here.

Step 3. The suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) is the circadian pacemaker that monitors this dance between darkness and light and the seasonal cold and hot temperatures in our environment. Cold temperatures reverses all the normal biology that is used when the SCN is entrained to light. This metabolic trap door is huge for mammalian biochemistry. This is the only way to naturally way to enter this brain pathway now that we know of. When temperature becomes the dominant environmental trigger and not light cycles, the leptin receptor induces endothelial nitric oxide synthetase (eNOS) formation.

EDIT 5/12/2012: it appears science has already beginning to find out what I knew was true 6 years ago. This really should a dagger to any safe starch belief you still hold. Mother Nature is telling you this, and not me. Are we clear on that?

NS: There is no safe starches in winter period because Mother Nature said so, not Dr. Kruse.

Geek alert: Expression of VEGF is high in proliferating and mature brown adipocytes and the VEGF receptors, FLK-1 and FLK-4, are expressed in BAT. Irisin is stimulated by cold from muscle as well. The expression of VEGF in BAT may promote and maintain the high level of vascularization in this tissue so that the it can counter balance the development of frostbite. Chronic norepinephrine stimulation and cold stress both result in increased levels of VEGF expression in BAT.

Both of these pathways cause expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and eNOS which then shuts down the photic effects of VIP on the SCN. Leptin forces the SCN to be blinded to light to yoke circadian cycles and use temperature! Remember, endothelial NOS (eNOS) are expressed in BAT. Remember, step one, activation of eNOS by cold actually blocks the SCN from reacting to photic stimuli to entrain our circadian rhythms!

So the cold turns off control of all circadian rhythms to light and uses temperature instead! This is another shocking surprise of cold thermogenesis! Can you say bye bye to safe starches now? If you are scientist, yes you can, and you will say no if you are a paleo dogmatist that enjoys your feelings, more than your health. The activation of eNOS seems to be tied to the cold environment and replace light as the entrainment molecule for biological rhythms in cold.

STEP 4: When cold is perceived by skin cold receptors over two weeks leptin is liberated from fat cells in massive quantities. Cold empties fats stores like like a fire empties a movie theater. It can occur even faster if the method of adaptation is controlled with metal. The modern Zeltiq procedure does this in 45 minutes in a medical office.

The cold liberates leptin directly from white adipose tissue (WAT). Cold environments induce a long buried epigenetic program in all mammals that allows for WAT to convert to brown adipose tissues (BAT) to burn calories as free heat and not generate ATP or to increase ROS simultaneously. This allows us to age more slowly, while increasing our metabolism and ability to work on less calories all while burning fat to make heat to stay warm.

We also lower our body fat while improving our body composition too! The cold temperatures also raises IGF-1 mRNA to increase Growth Hormone release tremendously. This increases autophagic efficiency and improves muscular and cardiac function quickly. It does this all without exercise!

The cold also increases GnRH and selects for reproductive fitness too. This is important in cold, because most mammals are pregnant during winter months. This is where the HCG link comes in for mammals. They use HCG as a turbo boost to burn fat stores from the summer months as they fattened on carbohydrates. This is where Gary Taubes was partially correct, but he failed miserably on how we are designed to get rid of the fat because he did not know anything about leptin. Ditto for Dr. Lustig. They both came late to the leptin party. This fat fuel feeds their growing fetus. Leptin controls all oocyte and placental function in all mammals. The lower leptin levels are, the more “safe and sound” the pregnancy will be.

Anorexic / ED / Obese People Caveats: The corollary here is that the more LR a mammals is the more problems they have getting pregnant or staying pregnant. In cold, leptin is at its lowest levels and the mammals is leptin sensitive because of increased receptor binding affinity.

Infertile modern humans take note: So this means that cold environments may also improve fecundity, because cold lowers leptin in number while its receptor become supra sensitive. It is too bad conventional wisdom of modern medicine does not use this to help LR couples who are infertile. I in 7 couples in this country can not have kids because of a leptin receptor problem. The main reasons are cytokine elevations that inhibit leptin function of oocyte maturation and placental development and function.

Progesterone is a major foot soldier of leptin here to support a pregnancy. The older the mammal mom, the more critical the leptin status becomes. This is why older mothers have higher risk pregnancies. Their progesterone levels suck. And this puts the baby at higher risk for epigenetic failures. Epigenetic failures are failures of cell membrane signaling. If you are glycated you epigenetic switches do not work well. This is how transgenerational epigenetics functions. This is where the environment meets the cell. This is why modern children are born with a disadvantages because modern life has pushed pregnancy back in a womans life cycle. Cold thermogenesis can help your fertility in a big way.

So how does the Leptin receptor flip its function in cold doc? Since cold acutely raises the serum leptin levels as it is liberated from fat, it confirmationally alters the leptin receptor to become more sensitive to the hormone level as it is liberate from the WAT. This process is a function of physics, (quantum) as all steroid receptors have higher affinities for their receptor molecule. This implies that even if a person has low hormone levels in a warm adapted state once they become cold adapted it does not matter!

Non scientist alert: Cold is your optimal hormone maker and you don’t need a doctor to do it! Cold Thermogenesis can be done in your home! Your inner masterpiece is literally inside of you right now, if you learn how to tap it. This was my Michelangelo moment.

STEP 5: As leptin rises in the serum, It gains much easier access to the brain because Triglyceride levels are low when its cold and you’re not supposed to eating carbs! Wild mammals have no problems with this rule but mammals who can control their environment always seem to. This mismatch cause inflamamtion at our gut lining and raises IL-6 , TNF alpha, and NF kappa beta.

All three block leptin from getting in to the brain! So if it can’t get in, it does not matter if the leptin receptor is set to hold on to the leptin hormone tightly in a love lock. Here is another reason “starches” are not safe in winter period. This is also why diabetics why are told to eat carbs year round never get better! Diabetics need winter and cold more than they know. Diabetes is not a disease. It is normal physiology missing winter. Cold is what reverses their metabolic syndrome completely. Eating carbs in autumn or winter can alter leptin entering the brain at the hypothalamus to derail the ancient pathway before it ever has a chance to work.

NS moment of clarity: This is why diabetics die early. The ACCORD Trial data just showed this. No matter the treatment diabetics get they die 6 years earlier. Change the channel in your head now. If you live within the cold of winter the ancient pathway reverses you metabolic derangement and it confers health and longevity. This is 180 degrees opposite, what a diabetic faces. If you want an optimal life you must live with in the confines of this pathway at all times. This process is a life saver for a diabetic.

Reunite: When Leptin enters the brain it binds to the leptin receptor tightly. It hugs that receptor like a baby latches to a boob when hungry. It this shuts off all hunger signals rather abruptly in the brain. I am talking like lighting fast. People in cold have no hunger cravings.

STEP 6: Simultaneously, The cold also raises IGF-1 (Growth Hormone) levels. When IGF-1 is raised by cold it allows us another shocking benefit. It blocks the action of TNF alpha apoptosis of brown fat. Leptin, is also now indicted as a co murder too. (it cause fat apoptosis) See below.

Non scientist alert: Leptin and IGF-1 are the mafia hit men of your fat cells in cold. They just melt your fat cells from your body, by killing them permanently!

Geeks are up: The cold decreases our WAT but it also favors formation of BAT. Paracrine factors synthesized by BAT include nerve growth factor (NGF), vascular endothelial cell growth factor (VEGF), angiotensinogen, and NO. The secretion of NGF occurs primarily from proliferating brown pre-adipocytes and in this capacity is believed to promote sympathetic innervation of the tissue which in turn permits increased norepinephrine stimulation of the cells in BAT to allow the mammal to liberate calories as free heat and not ATP to generate energy.

Irisin from muscle, stimulates the formation of BAT from pre adipocytes in WAT, in the face of extreme low leptin levels with low cortisol levels. The leptin levels get rid of the extra adipocytes via cell suicide. Told ya’ leptin was the Quilt’s bad ass hormone. There is no need to store fat when you need free heat to survive.

This is precisely why Sherpa’s exhibit unreal REE, RER and VO2 max measurements compared to the climbers they help reach Everest’s summit. Their metabolisms are so fast that they have to eat pure butter and lard for the last 2000 feet of the climb to Everest’s peak to maintain weight!

WIM HOF Alert: This is why you are a rockstar, Wim it is not the Tummo!. Do not let anyone else tell you otherwise. You remain the best example of the Ancient pathway on this planet today.

PALEO 1.0 and 2.0 dogmatists: Warm adapted mammals wrongly believe that you must increase muscle burning to get rid of fat. That biochemistry is only operational in warm light entrained metabolisms. It does not work that way in cold adapted mammals!

Geeks and Non Scientists unite: Do we have more proof of this in humans. Yes, I do. It comes the frost bite data on young children. When they get frostbite on their faces plastic surgeons realized that they could never repair the fat losses because the fat cells just vanished permanently. This was reported in the literature in 2008. Guess where? MGH at Harvard is the correct answer. Right under the noses of Paleo dogmatists too. Guess what those plastic surgeons did with that observation. They made a company called Zeltiq and became millionaires on the backs of fat humans. You can now go to any plastic surgeon and ask for cool sculpting or Zeltiq and have your fat frozen away in 45 minutes with a metal plate. It cause apoptosis (for the GEEKS) and is called permanent fat loss for NON SCIENTISTS. For the dogmatists, it’s called a biologic reality check.

Reunite: POMC cleaves into alpha MSH and ACTH! Both rise huge! Clarity moment for all you afraid of the cold! Your brain is wired to raise ACTH and optimize cortisol in cold. Can I hear a Hallelujah from the followers!

The activation of these programs in BAT has another more clever evolutionary role. It allows for activation and repair of the immune system to protect us maximally when we are facing a chronic caloric deficits to survive chronic seasonal cold temperatures. Cold thermogenesis actually strengthens adrenal function by increasing alpha MSH levels across the entire genome and really is the key to the biochemical pathway. These are the ancient leptin- melancortical pathways. Normally low dietary calorie densities lead to a failing immune system in new born mammals. In cold we do not see this. Polar bear cubs are born in the dead of the winter and live 3-4 months before they emerge from the Den the first time and rarely die from immunity. They die because of starvation once they are out in the environment. Momma is their main food source, not the polar arctic’s food chain.

Thyroid too?

All reunite: The warm adapted story of metabolism and biochemistry you hear regurgitated everywhere on the net

Once leptin enters and binds to its receptors, it effects the lateral hypothalamic tracts to immediately send a second messenger signal to the thyroid to signal it to up-regulate thyroid function and efficiency. See whne we are warm adapted it require help to partially access this pathway from T3 hormone. If you are LR you never can access this pathway. This specifically is how we can raise our basal metabolic rate when we are leptin sensitive. These coupled events, matched with leptin’s actions peripherally in muscles, occur at the UCP3 sites to burn fat as we sleep at a higher basal metabolic rate. This means electron chain transport does not make ATP as usual. When leptin allows this uncoupling to occur we make heat and not energy from normal metabolism. This means we will burn off our excess calories as pure heat. This is one reason why calories in and calories out argument makes no biologic sense once you understand how leptin works. Humans are built to burn fat at night as we sleep to loose excess weight we don’t need. This is our modern day equivalent of hibernation. Out big fat amazing human brain got rid of winter sleep and took over a two hour window during sleep to replace it. CT-7 covers the gorgeous symphony of human circadian biology. Since it shrunk our risk of mismatches has risen exponentially. This is how your brain or feelings, can undercut you, when you are unaware of what a sped up epigenetics meant to human mammalian biochemistry.

Skeptics: You wanted data, and now I am killing you with it.

The cold adapted human thyroid FXN: does not bother with T3 at all. Why? When you are supremely LS by cold you go straight the the source, the hypothalamus and make TRH from the brain. The brain controls all thyroid function in cold. Forget the Moose thyroid.

Skeptic Bomb: You bypass all hormones and TSH too. TRH drives the whole show. The brain is completely in control and it up regulates fat burning everywhere. This is how the Ancient Pathway lights your pilot light. The warm adapted human always complains about the cold and always feels cold. The cold adapted on is always pink to cherry in cold radiating heat like a furnace. You can thank TRH for this. This is does not even require a thyroid gland either. Is not life grand in the cold, folks?

Sleep is better too, Doc?

During sleep however when our temperatures are lowest, their is autophagic repair constantly ongoing to help repair the immune system. This phenomena is not seen in mammals in warmer environments. Our metabolic and immune functions actually increase because of better autophagy due to calorie restriction and heightened DHEA levels from the cold. Better autophagy also favors deep sleep because it severely lower IL-6 levels. Remember IL-6 is a structural relative to leptin too. This is why it is easy for mammals to sleep deeply in winter months under ground. In the warm adapted mammals the biochemistry books say the opposite is true. They report those mammals have high levels of inflammatory cytokines increase temperature to allow macrophages work better for immune surveillance. That is true in warm adapted but not in cold adapted ones.

Sutherland Simpson has shown that during deep anesthesia a warm-blooded animal tends to take the same temperature as that of its environment. He demonstrated that when a monkey is kept deeply anesthetized with ether and is placed in a cold chamber, its temperature gradually falls, and that when it has reached a sufficiently low point (about 25°C in the monkey), the employment of an anesthetic is no longer necessary to maintain anesthesia. Pretty nifty trick for a surgeon to know. The animal becomes insensible to pain and incapable of being roused by any form of stimulus; it is, in fact, narcotized by cold, and is in a state of what may be called “artificial hibernation.”

Once again this is explained by the fact that the heat-regulating mechanism has been interfered with. Similar results have been obtained from experiments on cats. I believe the same is true in humans as well because I tested this on me.

NS: Isn’t temperature just amazing? Flip it on, and we become superman. Who knew? Who would have thought this? Still thinking all that published research is really worth something to ya’ now?

Implications of the ancient pathway:

Non scientists: No, you do not need exercise to induce fat loss. Major myth propagated by warm adapted modern hominids. They really buy it because they dont walk on the wild side of our biochemistry. Wil Hof does and so do I. In the cold adapted, the rules of engagement change. In fact, you can lose weight with no exercise at all! Yes, I went there. Remember mammals don’t do WOD while they are hibernating!

Geeks: This means that a cold environment (skin temps 50-55 degrees) selects for heat production no matter what the light cycles or the thyroid status says it is on any hormone panel. Anyone who thinks you need carbs to up regulate your thyroid to get you to burn fat just does not understand how we are designed to work in a cold environment. It appears long light cycles and warm temperatures allow for apoptosis for BAT and the growth of WAT in all mammals.

This is why we do not see much BAT in animals that live in the tropics or in humans as they grow into a warm adapted habitat. This includes modern day hominids.This is why many modern day doctors and consultants believe that carbs are needed for thyroid function. Not true if you know about the cold. They don’t and now you do.

Non Scientists: Cold eliminates appetite and hunger period. This makes calorie restriction an easy thing to complete. This means we live longer. Really Doc? Yes, and here is why: anytime we increase REE in mammals in cold it calls for reduced calorie diet; because of this we generate less ROS at the inner mitochondrial membrane. This means that cold thermogenesis will likely extend survival because it selects for longer telomere lengths! To me this information is the most shocking revelation of the evolutionary biology of the leptin receptor.

Are you now starting to see why you feel so good since you trusted me and jumped in the cold water and did not listen to the elitist Paleo 1.0 or 2.0 bloggers? See, I am on your team, and I have been looking out for you because I know something very few do. Now you do too. And I am cashing the check I promised you all, right here and now. Considering the great adaptations this pathway holds, it amazes me why the rest of us are not using it routinely, or why the unhealthy skeptic would not at least try it, as Robb Wolf might say, for 30 days.

Geeks: When leptin is liberated by any biochemical method is generally reduces appetite and all feeding behaviors. Cold environments not only liberate leptin but they also liberate adiponectin while creating an increased production of alpha MSH and ACTH from the POMC protein made in the hypothalamus. Ok, time to hurt your head with some brain biochemistry. Sorry in advance.

The first key was the SCN modulation switch that killed the theory of safe starches, the second shocker is what happens in the hypothalamus with cold because of leptin.

The cold receptors of the skin signal the brain two ways. One is through the brain gut axis (in the mouth, CD36) and the second is via the spinal cord directly from the cold receptors. The chronic stimulation of the cold receptor turns on the production of alpha MSH and ACTH. When ACTH acutely rises your sense of well being rockets northward. We are not talking a small amount either, we are talking a large amount. Real large. If you have been an estrogen collector as a warm adapted hominid (most are too) you will notice some bumps as you adapt. Fear not. It soon shall pass.

Just up your B12, B6, and your betaine HCL acid as you induce CT protocols. So large the increase of alpha MSH and ACTH, that cold adapted mammals tend to have darker skins and the best attitudes even under constant assault. (Think Inuit, Sherpa’s or Monk dark)

The Hypothalamic Cold switch of the Ancient Pathway:

Non Scientists and Geeks unite: This large surge in αMSH acts as a “switch” for our neural biochemistry; it triggers immediate oxytocin release centrally. The high oxytocin levels stimulate the endocannabinoid production from the PVN as well. When both of these hormones are raised simultaneously, it inhibits the release of oxytocin peripherally in tissues.

It was recently showed that central injections of αmelanocyte-stimulating hormone (αMSH) also inhibits oxytocin cells, and reduces peripheral release of oxytocin, but induces oxytocin release from dendrites. Dendritic oxytocin release can be triggered by agents that mobilize intracellular calcium. Mammals all have cold receptor systems that use calcium gated receptors. This is why Cold thermogenesis only requires the skin temperature modualtion to gain entrance to the pathway.

It also makes evolutionary sense because the skin and gut are far more exposed to the elements than the core cold receptors are so it makes the system far more sensitive to the environment as it slowly changes.

The mammalian skin’s cold receptors are calcium gated the TRMP8 cold receptors. Once this receptor is activated it increases mRNA increases in MSH neurons and increases mRNA of UCP 1 and 3 within 4 hours of exposure in the brain and in our muscles. This is a very fast adapting system. When UCP 1 and 3 are raised this signal is transduced over our fluid filled cell membranes (high 06 and 03 content) to increase the numbers of our mitochondria in our FAT. White fat becomes brown fat and the first fat out is visceral fat! Say goodbye to diabetes.

Non Scientists: this means we just invited a fat burning specialist where our big fat stores are so we can get skinny real fast and live longer too.

Reunite: In a warm adapted mammals to be able to do this we would need to be LS and have adequate T3 hormone. We don’t need any T3 in cold. Mitochondrial biogenesis is increased dramamtically and WAT turns immediately to BAT and fat is obliterated. This is how evolution cures diabetes. If your a diabetic you better start embracing the cold and loving the winter. It is the key for reversing most of your big issues. No CARBS while doing it either! Modern medicine has this ass backwards and it is the reason no one is “cured”.

More implications of the Ancient pathway, it is designed for optimal human longevity. Yep, I went there too. This data implies all that we currently believe about modern neolithic aging may have to be re tested in cold environments. I am pretty confident I am correct. For the last 18 months I have been running two simultaneous N-1 evolutionary directed experiments to disprove this pathway exists. Neither failed. The currency that drives this pathway is Factor X. So you may be asking now, how in the hell is this possible from the biochemistry angle? Here is another sharp turn in the road.

The ability to extend life is due to a cold confirmational change in the leptin receptor! If researchers just alter their testing environments they could use the natural power of leptin to shut hunger off completely and allow humans to make life long calorie restriction an easy task. But what that really means is more important. All neolithic disease of aging can effectively reversed, if we work within this pathway constantly, and not outside it constantly as modern life has dictated.

What is clear is that this ancient pathway is hardwired into all of our DNA and our brains and has not been extinguished. I think I know why too. That is also tied to Factor X. I believe that cold is a game changer for longevity and the reversal of many neolithic diseases of aging too. I think if we just change the environmental factor when we study longevity we can activate this ancient mammalian program for improved survival. It also means that humans might be best adapted for longevity to a certain environment for survival as well. These insights floored me when I was studying leptin and how I might use it to reverse my own obesity.

1.0 and 2.0 skeptics here: This theory is backed up by these findings in 2006. In November 2006, a team of scientists from the Scripps Research Institute reported that transgenic mice which had body temperature 0.3-0.5 C lower than normal mice (due to overexpressing the uncoupling protein 2 in hypocretin neurons (Hcrt-UCP2), which elevated hypothalamic temperature, thus forcing the hypothalamus to lower body temperature) indeed lived longer than normal mice. The lifespan was 12% longer for males and 20% longer for females. Mice were allowed to eat as much as they wanted. The effects of such a genetic change in body temperature on longevity is harder to study in humans, but now in the age of telomere biology I think this is soon to change too. The UCP2 genetic alleles seen in humans so far are associated with obesity so I think this link is biological plausible and very likely too. Having fun yet?

Non Scientists: The ancient pathway confers optimal living but also longevity for humans. The leptin receptor becomes super sensitive and turns on Alpha MSH and ACTH production in every neural circuit in our brain to allow us to have total metabolic efficiency. It basically lights our pilot lights of our internal furnaces. Isn’t fat burning grand in cold!

1.0 and 2.0 skeptics here: Why temperature is a bigger deal for longevity than most think: Quantum biology/Kitavins link

H.M. Vernon has done work on the death temperature and paralysis temperature (temperature of heat rigor) of various animals. He found that species of the same class showed very similar temperature values, those from the Amphibia examined being 38.5°C, Fish 39°C, Reptilia 45°C, and various Molluscs 46°C. Also, in the case of Pelagic animals, he showed a relation between death temperature and the quantity of solid constituents of the body.

In higher animals, however, his experiments tend to show that there is greater variation in both the chemical and physical characteristics of the protoplasm, and hence greater variation in the extreme temperature compatible with life. This means that clinicians who base their beliefs on longevity data on lower animals might be making a big error in judgement about the effects of cold on mTOR and IGF-1 pathways.

Until the effects of thermal coefficient of the environment is studied with calorie restriction in humans and primates we may never have this answer. Understanding the evolutionary reasons for how the system evolved how might give us better insight what really is best for longevity.

Moreover, we do have some very serious data from biology and physics that show us that in polar animals their enzymes and proteins work very differently in cold then they do in warm environmental animals who have the same proteins. This implies that quantum biology is at play. We have known this data since the mid 90’s but the two fields of science do not mingle often. Psychrophilic organisms are capable of growth and reproduction in cold temperatures, ranging from ~15°C to +10°C. Temperatures as low as ~15°C are found in pockets of very salty water surrounded by sea ice in our polar seas. Psychrophilic organisms have successfully colonized polar and alpine regions and are able to grow efficiently at sub-zero temperatures. At the enzymatic level, such organisms have to cope with the reduction of chemical reaction rates induced by low temperatures in order to maintain adequate metabolic fluxes for biochemical reactions. Thermal compensation in cold-adapted enzymes is reached through improved turnover number and catalytic efficiency of their biochemical reactions.

The environments they inhabit are ubiquitous on Earth, as a large fraction of our planetary surface experiences temperatures lower than 15°C. They are present in alpine and arctic soils, high-latitude and deep ocean waters, polar ice, glaciers, and snowfields. They are of particular interest to astrobiology, the field dedicated to the formulation of theory about the possibility of extraterrestrial life, and to geomicrobiology, the study of microbes active in geochemical processes.

In experimental work at University of Alaska Fairbanks, a 1000 liter biogas digester using psychrophiles harvested from “mud from a frozen lake in Alaska” has produced 200-300 liters of methane gas per day, about 20-30 % of the output from digesters in warmer climates. This implies that the same organisms in different parts of our planet with one environmental change can produce more work and energy than those in others? Sound familiar? HCG diet? Calorie restriction? Michael Phelps? Lance Armstrong? Anyone?

All unite: The point is if life can do this people! Become aware of it now! I am fine with you not believing this, but honestly, science does not care if you believe it or not. It remains true, despite your dogma. The reality I am giving you here is a new world order for biology. It means evolution has had to face this in our past.

It also means that our biochemistry changes drastically when the environment changes. What happens to Kitavans and Masai do not equal Inuits, Sherpa’s or Emperor penguins. It means comparing these groups are like comparing apples to oranges, but we see many in the blogosphere make that error all the time.

This is why the macronutrient arguments are a pure waste of time. The environment is what controls epigenetics and epigenetics controls how biochemistry works. And biochemistry principles have to follow laws of quantum mechanics. Biology is not immune from them. Quantum mechanics is built in to all organic chemistry and biochemistry equations, but we remain unaware of how the effects of quantum biology alters proteins, their bonds and their atoms when extreme situations exist. So what happens in biochemistry at extremes at a sub-cellular levels to proteins, enzymes and leptin you ask?

What does cold do to subatomic biochemisty?

Geeks and Skeptics: Here comes the organic biochemistry answer that will hurt your head. As a biologic rule, all cold-active enzymes display a very high catalytic efficiency, associated simultaneously however, with a very low thermal stability. This means that as the environment cools the physical properties with proteins and their bonds radically change even though their chemical formula does not.

This is due to the quantum effects inherit in their stored energies. In most cases in biology, the adaptation to cold is achieved through a reduction in the activation energy that possibly originates from an increased flexibility of either a selected area or of the overall protein structure. So with a thermal phase change proteins can “rewire” just as an organ can.

This is an ancient evolutionary fractal design plan, where the biology of the organism at a macro organ level, parallels the plasticity in the biochemistry at a subatomic level. This also implies that all organic biochemical levels in between where most biochemical reactions occur have to follow the laws of quantum mechanics as well. The implications here are pretty large because this means that life and enzymes and hormones (leptin) can change their function and chemistry dramatically when faced with just one single variable change the thermal coefficient of the environment they are in.

It is true for many variables found on earth but human lineage has not been affected by some of these through evolution it appears. This enhanced plasticity seems in turn to be induced by the weak thermal stability of psychrophilic enzymes in cells. These evolutionary adaptation strategies are beginning to be understood today by recent advances in the elucidation of the molecular characteristics of cold- adapted enzymes derived from X-ray crystallography, protein engineering and biophysical study methods.

So how long does it take to get into this pathway? Thought you’d never ask.

It requires 2 weeks of cold to get full adaption in humans. Cold is the most potent stimulator of alpha MSH and ACTH production. Oxytocin, like αMSH, mobilizes intracellular calcium stores in oxytocin cells and triggers presynaptic inhibition of afferent inputs that is mediated by endocannabinoids.

More geeky but let’s reunite for learning: Normally hunger would be stimulated by this because it raises agouti levels. But since Agouti uses calcium to be activated, and since calcium is driven down in cold as I mentioned earlier, you have no hunger even though you have low calories and low leptin levels. All of these things should be which should be highly stimulative to hunger, IF IT WAS WARM. That is what the biochemistry books say. This is where the Holy Trinity comes in. It takes the best of CRON and the BEST of HCG and allows us to eat hardly any food at all and not be hungry while our body is burn all our fat to make us this and it increases our body composition because our growth hormone and sex steroid hormones are tightly bound to our receptors firing on all cylinders.

To prevent the natural decline in fat mobilization with a calorie restricted diet, cold thermogenesis is the only permanent alternative way to stimulate leptin release to decrease muscular malonyl-CoA. There is another non permanent way to do to it with the fat burning hormone called HCG. The problem with HCG it’s effects on this system do not invoke the epigenetic programing changes in the liver or brain because the hormone is only active in human pregnancy.

It is not designed by evolution to work full time, just for nine months in the placenta to liberate fats for fuel. It appears to also work on the muscles and on the endogenous opioid system to gain some of its effects. This is why it works clinically, and it has little to do with the restricted caloric diet. Anyone who is warm adapted and employs a calorie restricted diet of 500 calories immediately raises their cortisol which turns off their thyroid by turning all T3 and T4 to rev T3. This is basic warm adapted biochemistry 101. This does not happen on the HCG diet. But its effects are short lived for the reasons previously mentioned and that is why people have to remain on protocol for it to work. Not a good long term strategy, if you ask me. But it does work, so I hope all the bloggers and paleo hackers out there can stop name calling the HCGers. Moving to Fairbanks and beginning to swim in the Arctic Circle , maybe be a better long term move for a couple of years until the fat is gone! Wil Hof supports this message.

Cold thermogenesis allows for a constant supply of fatty acids to continuously enter the mitochondria where fat is turned to free heat to allow the mammal to tolerate the cold and where the brain is rewired to allow the liver, heart and skeletal muscle to survive on a ketogenic diet indefinitely for long term survival.

This evolutionary adaptation provides substantial fuel for the body while not depleting blood glucose. This is how mammals naturally adapted over time and why they were naturally selected for by evolution in their environments. This adaptation optimized fat utilization to prevent the need for the body to use lean tissue reserves during extreme caloric deficits. This is why mammals were ideally adapted for hibernation too, until they got too smart for their own genes sake.

Non Scientists: This means we get big ass muscles, lose our fat, and our ability to perform tasks rises beyond belief, while we do no exercise! Got it! This is the road to Optimal we all want that no one thinks exists. It does. I found it, and live in it a lot these days.

Reunite: Our biochemistry changes when temperature changes at the hypothalamic level. This implies that biochemistry also “rewires” as the organ rewires. Cold is very thermoplastic in all mammals. Thank god, our ancestors were all mammals, huh! I know you’re all saying it cant be true doc, can it? If it were, wouldn’t everyone would be doing it?

Clarity Moment: Yes, if they knew about it. They do not. It has been in the human blind spot for millions of years because we do not live in these areas of cold and we evolved in the middle of Africa just 2.5 million years ago. the other problem is that since no one knew it existed the smart humans (Paleo 1.0 and 2.0 folks and their researchers buds and all those trainers.nutritionists and dieticians) never studied it.

NASA found it in the 1960’s and then tested the Sherpas. Albert Schweitzer and Weston Price saw it in the Inuits in the 1900-30’s before they were polluted with the SAD. Then their biochemistry vanished. Most modern biochemistry books were done in the 1950’s until today. That is why they do not know. And because they do not know even today, it has become a neolithic thought that has subjugated your paleolithic genes. It is time you are aware of this fact. It is the biggest game changer for modern humans. Now you know it too.

I am proud to finally bring it to your attention for you to discuss and try. I tested the pathway out on my entire family and hundreds of patients. I know the truth. It’s now your turn to find out if I am nuts or perceptive. Its your choice what to do with it. If you want to eat safe starches year round and slowly deplete your stem cells and shorten your telomeres as you do your WOD, be my guest. I think I would rather roll with Mother Nature, on path to Optimal health. I have for a long time now, so have my patients.

Radical Rule Number 9: Bio chemistry is dictated by this ancient pathway. Warm adapted biochemistry does not apply to a cold adapted brain

Skeptic Alert: If you still doubt this you will pay a huge biologic toll.

All biochemical reactions are thermoplastic in life. This means that many of our assumption are based upon what we know to be true in our current environment and not the ideal environment that sculpted out genome. These are all unexpected results when you consider the content of any modern day conventional biochemistry textbook you read. Why is that? Its coming at the end of this monster series, I promise. I can’t give it all away.

Neglected geeks: So let’s review this again from another biochemical perspective. Simulation of cold in studies studies have shown administration of a fatty acid synthase (FAS) inhibitor (leptin) to the central nervous system in obese mice, dramatically reduces feeding behavior, with the increase in hypothalamic malonyl-CoA concentrations.

These findings show that during very low-calorie diets (think HCG use in humans), a stimulant of a FAS inhibitor like leptin or alpha MSH, would raise malonyl-CoA levels, and decrease the expression of NPY and AgRP to destroy hunger to allow you to actually exist on 500 calories. The reason so many Paleo’s pound HCGer’s is because they are clueless about how cold thermogenesis pathways work.

Clinically this would sustain satiation for longer periods of time with less food. So what could fully induce this program? Cold environments with low light levels is the evolutionary medicine response I give now. This is where the Holy Trinity meets Optimal. I am inclined to believe this is precisely how the injectable form of HCG allows people to subsist on 500 calories with out hunger.

I think the reason the injectable HCGers find they need to continue with the protocol to maintain their weight loss is that they are not controlling for the thermal coefficient of their environment while on HCG. Ironically, most of those patients do report feeling cold, too, on the HCG protocol. This is no mystery. It has to do with the activation of the cold receptors in the CNS/spinal cord by the HCG itself. The pathway does not activate fully because of the lack of action on the cold receptors of the skin.

The brain is expecting the signal so it appears as a sensation to the women who use HCG from the unopposed spinal cord receptors in the CNS. HCG, in my opinion, is a partial agonist to this ancient pathway. My bet is if HCG was tested in a colder climates, in human adult, s it would be might be beneficial for weight loss because it would use leptin and alpha MSH as its tailwind hormones to induce more permanent fat burning while increasing TRH in the brain. In my opinion, using CT is a far better option, period.

Okay, I did not get the brain stuff. Tell me that again, Doc.

Non Scientists: All these proteins and hormones allow for some amazing adaptations and behaviors in humans because of the cold.

Reunite: These signals should dramatically reduce feeding behavior in cold. They all do. The peripheral cold receptors also send signals to the brain’s higher cortex signaling that something has dramatically changed in the peripheral environment. The cold releases large amounts of leptin from all stores. This increase in serum leptin is very steep and sustained over weeks to months, and is simultaneously registered in the human hypothalamus by forcing NPY and AgRP (agouti) to very low levels.

When NPY is low the dietary needs for carbohydrates diminish and should be eliminated. IE: biology does not expect to see a banana in your mouth in the winter at any point and if you see it there you will pay. (NS:bye bye safe starch theory) NPY is also known bu neuroscientists to drive carbohydrate cravings in all humans. NPY is high in high light levels and low in cold environments. This makes sense because carbohydrates do not grow in low light or cold environments, so evolution is acting in a congruent fashion with the normal expected biology correlates. Evolutionary biology has no built in answer for carbs in winter period. So, if you eat them you will pay a huge biologic price.

NS: Fig 1 is modern man of this axiom. See our modern mediocre diabetic species loaded with neolithic disease and lots of little fat humans to follow for generations because of our sped up epigenetics. Still with me, non scientists (NS)?

Geek Fest: The fall in agouti related peptide completely destroys our appetite. This also makes evolutionary sense if you think about it. If one was in a winter polar hell hole, it would be wise to control hunger since food is quite sparse in a short growth season. This would allow the animal to exist on a low to no calorie diet for an extended period time to survive. This is precisely how present day eutherian mammals survive the polar winters.

Since we are descended from them this program is built into to our DNA too, even though we rarely use it. But guess what, .its there and I found it in my neurosurgery books. this pathway completely explains the modern Sherpa’s ability, it explains Wil Hof, Phelps, Armstrong, NASA’s astronauts and Schweitzer’s 1913 reports on the Inuit.

Reunite: In the summer, polar mammals become IR eating many seasonal fruits and tubers and they develop IR which signals their hypothalamus that it is time to den and hibernate. The carbohydrate gut signal causes sped up circadian clocks of the gut ATPase. Carbs are very stimulatory to the chemical clocks in our cells. This acute large dietary load of carbs then causes an inefficiency at the Mg/ATPase. This means that Magnesium levels drop and we do not make ATP well. We become metabolically inefficient.

Our DHEA levels fall and we get the sense of lost energy. We also lose autophagy efficency of sleep. This is all seen in modern diabetics world wide. See, diabetes is not a disease. It is how mammals signal for the coming winter. It how evolution told us we are too account for seasonal time. We just created a perennial summer with 24/7 access to carbs and negated winter entirely with warm clothes, warming seats in Escalades, LED TV’s and iPhones, and heating systems in our houses. See evolution has no plan for that either. If you avoid winter you pay in disease. Our brains rapid development caused this major mismatch. Its time to pull your head from your hind quarters and realize it too. You control all the cards here.

Just in the last three years, were learned that all mammals have the ability to alter their cell membrane fatty acid content to improve fluidity in cold temperatures. This signal is then sent to the stromal cells where omega 6’s levels are higher and there is a rapid replacement of omega 6’s fats into cell membranes prior to hibernation. Amazingly, recent studies showed, the amount of so-called “n-6″ polyunsaturated fatty acids (those with the final double bond at the sixth position) in the membranes was found to increase dramatically before the start of hibernation, apparently to prepare the body, and particularly the heart, for operation at very low temperatures.

Consistent with this idea, the transition to a higher content of n-6 fatty acids in membranes takes place extremely rapidly just before the animals enter their hibernation chambers. The changes are reversed, again over a short time, around the termination of hibernation in spring, when the animals return to a life at high body temperatures and circadian biology is entrained to photic signals and they gut as carbohydrates reappear in longer light cycles. This carbohydrate presence increases NPY in the brain and the leptin melanocortin pathway is closed until it is induced by cold in cyclic fashion.

These adaptations allow mammals huge advantages at the polar regions. These animals are then able to go 4-6 months in a deep sleep without eating or drinking and survive with no problem at all. They are also resistant to the pain of cold too. This is why diabetics also have chronic pain so often and neuropathy. It is reversible too. Why do I know that? I have done it and I ran some interesting experiments to prove it. That will be in the book.

Why can mammals who are cold adapted resist pain? Chronic cold, lowers IL-6 and leptin levels, which signal the brain through the skin, mouth, and gut. This signal results in elevated hypothalamic alpha MSH and ACTH secretion by the POMC neurons POMC is a hypothalamic protein. Elevations of POMC also explain why the native Inuit and Sherpa’s have tinted skin. Tinted skin also is protective against the cold. I love when a story comes together don’t you?

Reunite and hold hands. We’re going on the rollercoaster one more time. Take a breath. Alpha MSH and ACTH cleavage from POMC is activated when this set of circumstances is called for by the environmental triggers. High levels of alpha MSH also raises DHEA levels while reducing IL-6 levels so that sleep is naturally selected for as well with this epigenetic program. When DHEA raises it increases efficiency of autophagy.

This makes low caloric density possible because the requirements for nutrients drop as the mammals become more metabolically efficient. The reason this system exists is because mammalian evolution called for it at one time because all life depended upon it. Was it life’s origin, who knows, but it works this way 100% of the time.

90% of all life on this planet still lives in these climates in our ocean depths and in the polar seas. This is also true in the alpine and deep tundra regions of our planet today. It used to be the normal program of all mammalian life on our planet, but in modern times that has changed radically. Today, we make up part of the 10% who have naturally adapted away from this program. But we think somehow we are so special.

(Neolithic thought cutting your knees out from under you) But be very aware that this program is hardwired into our DNA in every mammal on this planet, including us. If you eat outside its cycle you pay a huge price. I know because I take care of those prices in surgeries and disease statistics and you all see what Disney and Walmart visits have become in modern times. Both places littered with obese humans who use motorized carts to get around. The proof is everywhere you look when plug in what I am sharing with you.

Radical Rule #9: It appears modern humans have found that partial activation of this system is possible with injectable HCG, CRON, metaformin, turmeric, resveratrol, the modern paleo diet, and low leptin levels. None of these work well individually unless they are all coupled together simultaneously. The Ancient pathway shows its power when all are present together.

Today’s beliefs about the paleo diet are just partial truths. They are true, but the benefits are greater when you marry the optimal diet with the Ancient Pathway. The modern paleo diet is just a part of this gorgeous pathway in our human brain. It will not work unless all conditions are met in unison. This implies anyone who use a part of the pathway is only tapping a small part of optimal living. Add them all up, and well you probably wont believe some of the things you might be able to do from this night forward. I know I still cant fathom it all, after 6.5 years.

So how does biochemistry work in us normally when we are warm adapted?

Geek Alert: In the normal thermic environment most humans are in today we see dramatic increase’s in skeletal muscle leptin sensitivity while simultaneously decreasing muscle malonyl-CoA needs. When this process occurs it triggers a metabolic pathway that determines whether or not fat is used for energy by the mammal or not. Muscle malonyl-CoA is a potent allosteric inhibitor of muscle enzyme called carnitine palmitoyltransferase (CPT-1). CPT-1 opens a “door” on the inner mitochondrial membrane. It allows for the entrance of fatty acids to enter the mitochondria and be converted into energy. When CPT-1 is deactivated by muscle malonyl-CoA, entry of fatty acids into mitochondria for Î²-oxidation is inhibited. This means no fat burning is possible.

AMPK is deactivated and it activates the enzyme Acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACC). ACC creates malonyl-CoA, which inhibits CPT-1, and thus reduces fatty acid oxidation. It allows human to adapt by burning other sources of fuels in the muscles layers and saving the fat for longer term survival. After eating, when blood glucose and blood leptin levels increase, the activation of AMPK deactivates ACC, which decreases muscular malonyl-CoA. As muscle malonyl-CoA declines, CPT-1 activates and opens access for fat into the mitochondria, where energy can be supplied through Î²-oxidation. This explains how eating food, that is not yet in a form that can be captured as energy, can stimulate the use of stored fuel for immediate use.

Non Scientists: When you eat a warm adapted safe starch diet you can follow the research in todays books and all the conventional wisdom of modern man. You can also find these proofs in most paleo 1.0 and 2.0 books. You will likely die earlier than normal, and you will get diseases you don’t want either. The more you work out to avoid a bad body, the faster your life force depletes. But you will have a good looking body for a time before it falls apart too. Think Arnold Schwarzenegger or Grete Waitz. If you chose to limit your carbs, and not work out like a nut at a WOD, you wont die early, but some bloggers will make fun of your skinny fat and other body parts. Both groups will have lots of fertility problems too. Think hypothalamic amenorrhea, eating disorders, hypogonadal failures, the need for in vitro fertilization and expensive doctoring, etc. It is called the world you live in today.

Geek Fest: Cold has more effects on cardiac and skeletal muscle. Cold thermogenesis activates a program in the brain that stimulates the skeletal muscle to increases fatty acid oxidation (fat burning) and this chronic exposure increases resting energy expenditure (RER). RER controls precisely how many calories are required for us to eat in a given day. If you look at most calculators of REE or RER they never include the most important variable,

Temperature, pure and simple. They are assuming you are 98.6 F. Cold exposure reduces the need for calories tremendously in this equation but allows us to increase our metabolic function (increases VO2 max) to thrive and improve survival. Stop for a minute and think what this means. It means you can eat less and survive while increasing you metabolic rate as you do it! This set of circumstances seems impossible.

But it is not. In fact the Russian federation used it to kill us in the winter olympic games for close to 100 years. The ante was raised in 1957 when Russia beat us to space. NASA was formed and they found out about cold thermogenesis in the most improbable of places where it was cold, high and closer to space. They met the Sherpa’s of Mount Everest. NASA astronauts were sent to train with Sherpa’s and Sherpa’s were studied by our scientists to see what “magic powers” they had that our astronauts needed for spacewalks in its extreme cold. They learned quickly that cold is a game changer for human physiology.

It created a super human physiology.A pathway, who does not require the human to eat or drink often and yet could sleep like a baby. One who had super human immunity and super fecundity. It also showed that a Sherpa had super strength and an incredible metabolic rate. Some times it was 400-500% above the people they were leading up the mountain.

There is a guy right now in the Arctic named Wil Hof, who does all this stuff now, but has no clue why he can do it. Ray Cronise is working with him too now. He believes his mind is special, and confers to him these amazing abilities. I am here to tell you he is no different than you or I. That ability is built into each and every human who wants to access it. Optimal is no longer a mystery to humans, it has now become a choice for you today. I have been living in and out of it for 6.5 years.

I have done something things that would blow your mind. I expect to share some of them at Paleo fx and the remainder of this year before my book comes out. The Ancient pathway existence is why they can do this stuff, folks. It is confers to us amazing abilities that few of us ever tap, let alone think of. It is in modern man’s blind spot, but it has been partially seen in many aspects of human history. Most biochemistry books that smart organic chemists read have been published from 1950. None of them have used the Sherpa’s or any cold adapted mammal to test this. this is why we dont know about it. It is hard to study something you remain blind too.

My 2012 goal was to allow sunshine to hit this pathway for the entire world to see.

It was how I how brought myself back to health. I used it on my family as soon as it worked on me and then my patients asked for help soon thereafter too. In my encore podcast with Jimmy Moore, I told you I was onto something big. Here it is.

NASA found that Sherpa’s had to eat pure lard and butter to maintain their weight when they left base camp for the climb to the top and yet they still shredded weight! In the years after these discoveries new discoveries added more drama to the story. In 1994 leptin was found, and completely explained why their metabolic rates were so amazing. It appears as the cold continues chronically, leptin leeches out from human fat rapidly and WAT undergoes apoptosis while BAT is naturally selected for.

Simultaneously, the leptin receptor becomes ultra-sensitive to any level of leptin by quickly lowering cortisol levels while dramatically increasing alpha MSH and ACTH. It is like the brain gets jolted into a new realm and immediately rewires, its abilities. Cold temperatures also sensitize muscles to leptin function and there is a quick adaptation by the hypothalamus and we see a dramatic fall in reverse T3 levels in those who are LR. The increase in muscular performance is the most dramatic in human biology. It can create a super athletes if it used properly overtime during adaptation.

Moreover, it appears the Sherpa’s are great athletes for climbing Everest because they are naturally adapted to cold and pressure. They remain the last humans who live most of their lives in this environment, but their current diet is not optimal to use this ancient pathway because the mountains block them from the sea. This means there is more performance available to us if we optimize the diet of the ancient pathway.

Its close but its not optimal because they have no access to the sea like the Inuits do. Modern Inuits have been ruined by modern man’s diet and warm conveniences, just as we have been. Our biology is built to need winter to offset the damages done in summer. This is why our species is mediocre today. It appears evolution used it before for other reasons and that is why we keep it in our brains tightly locked away for a rainy day. The Sherpa’s performance, even on a suboptimal diet, still exceeds most warm adapted humans to a great degree. This should make every crossfitter stop and think. This tells you that the Cold is big factor in all exercise platforms. Anothe rthing a crossfitter should consider as they kill themselves at a WOD, is how come polar bears and sherpa’s can kill their performance when they do not eat carbs all day and do WOD in the winter months? In fact polar bears become elite athletes by sleeping and being cold. I remember distinctly hearing Robb Wolf’s podcasts saying how important sleep really is but we dont know why.

Well, I do.

When I learned about the SCN ability to change biochemical teams, about how leptin controls the metabolic gate of the Ancient pathway’s function, and how all steroid receptors increase their binding affinities in cold, it was on like Donkey Kong. I stopped settling for a D or a C, when I realized an A was available to me. This amazing performance ability is what makes Sherpa’s excellent guides to lead climbers to the Himalaya’s summits with no problem. It also makles polar bears apex predators in the Arctic.

Non Scientists: Just get cold adapated using my protocol and eat a ketogenic paleo diet and watch your entire life change in a year like mine did.

New science has shown that this epigenetic program is hardwired in us and can be instantly implemented by anyone who understands how the system is designed to work. It can be used to counter balance the symptoms of starvation whilst improving metabolic rates to help body composition and increase muscular strength and output while eating 40-60% less than non adapted humans.

When leptin signaling is supra-sensitized in the brain, muscle and liver levels by cold thermogenesis alone, some truly counterintuitive things occur. Biochemistry at extremes, works by different rules. These rules are NEVER used in modern research on human physiology. This implies, caveat emptor on every bit of CW, or new paleo dogma, you are hearing these days.

Geeks: In cold environments in earths evolutionary history (ice ages), food scarcity explains the adaptations to thirst, appetite, and increased immunity. They also exhibit a rapid increase in the expression of skeletal muscle peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-Î± (PPARÎ±). This is a transcriptional activator of fatty acid oxidizing enzymes which mobilize fat for immediate use. PPAR Î± also up regulates uncoupling protein 3 (UPC3) we spoke about in the post Why is Oprah Still Obese?. UCP 3 requires T3 and leptin or heightened receptor sensitivity to be working optimally for full functioning in normal environments. In cold environments, it appears the need for optimal T3 levels are provided by the immediate transformation of reversing reverse T3 back to T3 and T4 to stimulate thermogenesis peripherally.

Once this is exhausted, TRH from the brain takes over and drives our body to NIRVANA. Leptin levels no longer drives reverse T3 higher as it does in normal physiologic conditions we see today in humans. UCP3 allows skeletal muscle to turn ATP into pure heat by uncoupling oxidation phosphorylation in the mitochondria. This means per unit calorie burned, less ROS occurs at the inner mitochondrial membrane at cytochrome one (NADH). This implies that our mitochondria are “less leaky” and more efficient burners of energy.

The most efficient fuel for this pathway is a ketogenic paleolithic diet. The colder a mammal goes the more 03 it needs for optimal cell membrane signaling. It uses 06’s first in fall as temperatures gradually fall. See, 06’s are not always bad. You need context. Your ideal 06/03 ratio for optimal life needs to be around the 4:1 level for optimal functioning in this pathway.

It also implies that the any mammal can raise its own RER and VO2 max easily in cold, increasing their ability to work effectively using less energy! This caught NASA attention in the late 1960’s and they went to the Himalaya’s to check the Sherpa’s abilities. The results of this research were recently just licensed to a company in California called VASPER. One of my colleagues is an investor in this company. The data on VASPER is all NASA generated in space.

This is the best cold adapted human data on this planet because it was not done on this planet. It was done on the space shuttle and on the International Space Station. NASA has measured this in its astronauts and Sherpa’s and found this all to be true. The Russian’s have known about this way before we have. They have used this technology to destroy other countries athletes at the Olympic games since the 1940’s when their scientists first found it.

This information is why NASA was able to reduce food and water payloads in subsequent space expeditions on the shuttle to save fuel and reduce risks of explosion. They also shared this information with the US Olympic committee. I suspect this is how Phelps and Armstrong found this out as well and it likely has much to do with their accomplishments. This is the best of all worlds to the athlete and to the mammal who needs to perform and or live optimally. (Hey Don L are you listening?)

If evolution faced the dilemma in our past, it has a plan for life to survive. I believe all life began in a frozen world at the bottom of our ocean. Cold is the primordial condition everywhere in the universe, not just here on earth. I think it is amazing to me that we have not realized this before now. It appears our current reality of life on land is generalized to all other places. This is another neolithic thought that keeps the Ancient pathway in your blind spot. I hope I just put some windex on your glass eyes tonight.

Evolution’s modus operundi makes order from chaos. We need to learn how to embrace the biochemistry of chaos in order to understand what we are ideally adapted to and what we are ideally adapted to eat. There are some deep biologic implications in these lessons for humans. Biology, chemistry, and physics all exhibit unusual processes at extremes. Modern life is not lived at these extremes any longer but our metabolic engines are designed to live there. This is a biologic mismatch of evolutionary design caused by Factor X.

Lets review this again. Lets all reunite and hold hands while sining kumbaya!

1. Considering that 90% of the earth’s current biome lives in extreme conditions on our own planet today still, we might need to consider that what we think is “our normal environment” is not so normal for most of life on our planet or our evolutionary history.

2. Human cold receptors: (Geeks) Cold adaptation takes 2 weeks in humans. It is mediated by surface skin receptors and not the deeper core cold receptors. This is the cold sensory afferent loop The cold receptor is called TMRP8 (transient receptor potential melastatin-8 channel) and is a menthol receptor that is a calcium/sodium voltage gated channel. These cold receptors wire directly to the dorsal root ganglion in the spinal roots and go to the thalamus and to the spinal cord. This organization is unusual and suggest that humans have a reason for this adaptation and an endogenous cold neurotransmitter system built in to their CNS.

TRPM8 activated by cold exhibits steep temperature dependence [temperature coefficient (Q(10)) of âˆ¼40], and the channel openings are accompanied by large changes in entropy and enthalpy, suggesting a substantial conformation change. Relatively little is known about the processing of information from the skin or mucous membrane cold receptors within the central nervous system. But we do know from Dr. Jiango Gu (Univ. Of Florida) research that there are cold receptors in the human spinal cord. There are numerous nerve cells in the thalamus as well that respond only to cooling. Responses to cooling the tongue have been recorded from a single nerve cell of the brain’s thalamus in monkeys and cats (Auen et al., 1980; Lende and Poulos, 1970).

Recently researchers have found how to induce cold in mammals without being exposed to cold temperatures. The research, led by Andrej Romanovsky, MD, PhD, Director of the Fever Lab at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Arizona have recently found a antagonist of TMRP8 to induce hypothermia in humans who are awake. Take a guess who is a co-collaborator in this research? None other than Amgen! Remember who buried the synthetic leptin trials? This link to me is very suspicious.

This is being studied at Barrow Neurologic Institute (top neurosurgery program in USA). Neurosurgery tends to use hypothermia more than any other specialty in medicine because of the protective effects of cold on neurons. I have my eye on this research constantly. I think Amgen knows that cold is the key to many diseases and they want to corner the market on it.

3. Metabolic Trap Door: What most people do not know is how leptin plays a massive role in regulating the entrance to the pathway. Research has revealed that leptin can induce expression of a neuropeptide gene called vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) through the VIP cytokine response element. VIP actually is what sets the circadian pacemaker to light. Leptin yokes metabolism and and sleep to the light and dark cycle. When temperature becomes the dominant environmental trigger and not light cycles, leptin induces endothelial nitric oxide synthetase (eNOS) that shuts down the photic effects of VIP on the SCN. THIS MEANS LEPTIN IS THE ULTIMATE GATE KEEPER OF THE ANCIENT PATHWAY!

It also means that leptin forces the SCN not to be able use light any longer to yoke our circadian cycles! This is what opens the leptin melanocortin pathway in mammals. Eating carbohydrates seems to close the gate because of the neural wiring to hypothalamic NPY. This is the main evolutionary biologic reason there are no safe starches in humans.

4. Cold liberates leptin from WAT: If the cold is applied chronically, leptin is natural released from our WAT and this provides our body with an ample serum level to drive hunger and appetite to the ground. This is why cold will stop many eating disorder behaviors and it is also why those on HCG appear to get the same effect on a 500 calorie diet. It is no surprise to me any longer why HCG works partially in warm adapted humans at all.

It is a placental hormone that burns fat in pregnancy in mammals. It is part of this ancient pathway. It is just not sustainable as a long term weight loss diet without the cold environment. This makes the HCG diet limited in its use for 99% of us, but ideal for the cold adapted. It is like the seed in a nutrient depleted soil it grows but not all the way because of missing elements. That is the magic recipe of the Ancient Pathway. It needs all players to be present to show its power.

5. The gut control of the sensation of circadian biology is shut down by cold with increased receptor affinity binding becoming dominant body wide: The chronic exposure to cold daily increases the number of mitochondria in white and red skeletal muscle by mitochondrial biogenesis. It also causes the hypothalamus to rewire naturally the lower leptin levels by making the leptin receptor quite sensitive to leptin. This is due to the level dropping but also to the quantum effects that occur to the receptor as the cold becomes chronic because of the peripheral skin receptors.

It appears the leptin receptor is no longer acting in concert with the vagus nerve (as it does normally) but it is driven by the cold receptors in the skin’s surface which are far more accurate as sensing the environment. So this shuts VIP and the gut down gut down as a sensory entrainment organ for circadian biology in mammals. This coupled with the cold and negative leptin levels make us exquisitely sensitive to leptin effects in our hypothalamus.

6. Extreme lowered leptin levels: This immediately drops our appetite while allowing us to eat very few calories. The cold has another surprise for us. It decreases CRH and adrenal cortisol production too while sensitizing its receptor to its function. This means cold can reverse adrenal fatigue by strengthening the receptor without raising the cortisol level! It is in fact the best way to improve your stress hormone response by ASI testing. What else can cold do? It increases our endogenous immunity too by sensitizing our receptor to Vitamin D action body wide for survival!

Observed Clinical effects of Cold:

This explains why NASA studies consistently show increases in metabolisms (RER) tested through indirect calorimeters and increased VO2 max testing. This exapansion occurs slowly over 36 months. Most modern athletes wont wait five minutes for result. Hence why the modern trainers and Exercise physiologist never see it. It also completely explains how a world class athlete can eat tremendous amounts of calories while not gaining any excess weight while increasing performance.

They become adapted to burning fuels as free heat. This is precisely how Lance Armstrong and Michael Phelps were able to increase their VO2 max, REE, and RER’s while increasing their muscles ability to efficiently to move loads. After a recent CT training session, I was able to increase my bench press by 150 pounds with no training! In a recent personal conversation, I found out Wil Hof ran a marathon of 26.2 miles with no training. He also climbed to Mount Everest’s base camp from ground zero with shorts, a T shirt and a light jacket with no water or supplemental O2. I want to see any warm adapted hominid duplicate this feat. It sounds crazy until you understand the power of this Ancient Pathway.

The athlete athletes of modern times have finally discovered the benefit of cold training. The Russians have been using the same techniques for close to 100 years now. We now know why all the Russian Hockey leagues are located in freezing cold areas. Might this be the Canadians advantage in ice hockey as well compared to US players? Physical exercise, in cold water, such as swimming causes the body to lose heat at a much faster rate than remaining still in the water.

Cold water robs the body’s heat 32 times faster than cold air. Swimming or treading water will greatly increase heat loss by more than 50%. This is good for cold adaptation for sports training, but a bad deal if you fall into the Bearing Sea with out training. The leptin melanocortin pathway uses surface skin receptors to work and it does not use the deeper core receptors. This means we can induce this pathway form skin temps between 50-55 degrees safely.

If you cool too fast, or drop your core temperatures you can die quickly. Evolution is about survival of the fittest. Not vice versa. Why would one die? Blood is pumped to the extremities and quickly cooled there. Few people can swim a mile in fifty degree water because they are not properly cold adapted. Should you find yourself in cold water and are not able to get out, you will be faced with a critical choice; to adopt a defensive posture in the water to conserve heat and wait for rescue, or attempt to swim to safety.

Swimming to safety decreases survival time by 50% due to heat loss. The loss of heat increases so fast that it induces core hypothermia faster than the brain can rewire to adapt. Studies on Sherpa’s show it takes them 5 days to cold adapt in the cold air of base camp at Everest. In the people they help climb to the Summit, it take them 2-3 weeks to cold adapt at base camp. Elevation and decreased pressures also cause leptin sensitivity too. It appears that deep pressures also have the same effect. I now believe that life has another circadian cycle that it accounts for in barometric pressures. I am now looking for that “metabolic trap door.” I know it causes an entrance to this pathway too. There is a clear pressure effect on the leptin receptor as well for a reason.

Cold adaptation occurs faster in water. In cold adaptation this can also be turned into an advantage when one swims because it causes massive calorie burn to free heat allowing the person to eat enormous calories to offset the heat losses. NASA and high performance athletes use cold water or ice training to complete unreal feats that most cold adapted humans think are impossible. They are impossible to imagine, when you do not know how to access them.

Okay, hit me again with the biochemistry.

This material is dense, so let’s review it again from a new angle. Becoming chronically leptin sensitive by cold, results in a higher caloric-burning capacity because you become able to increase mitochondria biogenesis dramtically. It also sensitizes the leptin receptor affinity to bind leptin tightly. This increased affinity allows for leptin to induce apoptosis of WAT while Irisin rises and endothelial NOS increase the formation of brown fat to burn more fat as free heat. This is an inducible program that activate just from the chronic cold exposure and has ZERO to do with food or calories.

Surprise! Calories do not matter in this pathway. In fact, they are accounted for completely differently in the cold then they are on the Savana using the exact same pathways! Are you beginning to see a trend here folks? Being cold adapted confers huge advantages to mammals. You can live perfectly fine and be very healthy at the equator but no one can do what a cold adapted humans can do in cold. So living at the equator while eating tight to your circadian biology can give you a B+, but it will never give you and A+. Modern humans routinely think this B+ is an A. Sorry to break the news to you modern humans. It is not even close.

Remember the name of my website. It is Optimize Life. I don’t settle for anything less than what is out there for me. 6.5 years ago I found what optimal really was about. It is now time you discover it for yourselves.

Radical Rule #9: It should be crystal clear to you now why thinking affects your DNA directly? Thinking errors are the currency of telomere biology. They create the circadian mismatches I have mentioned here and everywhere I talk. The more of these, you make the shorter they become. The toll for bad thinking is paid telomere length and not in money. Telomere length is time. Nothing is more valuable in time. If you do not believe that, than you must die by your dogma.

Modern hominids do not use these cold adaptations because our brains rapid evolution has extinguished the need for hibernation from our own mammalian physiology. This keeps it in our blind spot.

When one is not using cold to prime supreme Leptin sensitivity, we expect to see patients who use the same food restriction to see a slowed loss in fat. They also undergo an increased loss of lean tissue reserves, and a resulting decline in resting energy expenditure. This occurs because the cold environment is the signal that leptin and T3 use to determines which program is epigenetically expressed. When people try caloric restriction in normal environments the results are dramatically different than they are in cold.

This single issue has hamstrung longevity researchers for quite sometime. They have found it extremely difficult to maintain primates and humans on these diets because the subjects are driven to eat more due to increased hunger. It appears longevity research will be changed and their results dramatically altered, just by adding chronic cold exposure to their environments. This means what aging researchers believe today will be demolished by newer studies that employ this evolutionary magic. The results of cold thermogenesis predicts that aging will be radically different when it happens in a normal warm adapted environment and a warm adapted diet. The reason is simple. Less ROS from the inner membrane of the mitochondria at cytochrome 1 means longevity is no longer limited by mTOR or IGF-1 as most research today shows in warm adapted animals or in worms who do not use leptin as we do.

Non Scientists: IF you want to live and live well, become cold adapted ASAP, and stop listening to CW, Paleo Dogma, or anyone from cross fit. What they believe is not true in a a cold adapted humans. I hope this gives you, your family, and your friends much to think about. I think I might take a break for awhile before Paleo fx and let you all “stew in these tomatoes” for a while. The implications are huge for our species. This post has transfixed my being for 6.5 years, but took me forty years to put together in one place. It changed my life, and the life of those I love, and I hope it changes yours now, too.

Geeks: Thanks for hanging with me through this all.

Skeptics: Dogmatism and skepticism are both, in a sense, absolute philosophies; one is certain of knowing, the other of not knowing. What philosophy should dissipate is certainty, whether of knowledge or ignorance. (Bertrand Russell)

I hope you enjoyed this. This was foundational work for my entire Quilt. In fact, this is my entire life’s work into one massive blog post. It maybe the most important blog I will ever write. I suggest you tattoo it, to the inside of your eyelids and remember it when you need it most. Time is our most valuable asset. As you age that reality will set in to each and everyone of you. That, I can promise.

I released the e-cookbook on my site today. I hope you like that too. My wife was the brains behind it. I just ate all the meat and protein and let her add the rest of the stuff. LOL That is garnish, but she says it tasted really good.

Comments

It'll take me days to finish reading CT-5 and finally get to this one, but had to say:

"Mother Nature always is right, no matter what the research says."

Right smack on. So often we go looking for "what is the exact ratio of this nutrient to that hormone that will produce the desired effect on this pathology?" instead of asking, "What did people do to thrive on this planet for millennia? What did they have in common?"

First we have to remove the blinders that assume they all died young, then find the reality, as Weston Price did.

BTW, I have lost 50 pounds now without exercising at all.

My hunger continues to decrease daily.

When I added CT two weeks ago, the first week was crazy weird stuff as hormones were in upheaval, then things settled in and last week the fat started to melt off.

Will this lead to a longer life? I don't know. Will it lead to living HEALTHIER for a larger percentage of my life, avoiding the 10-20 years of misery my older family members are now suffering? Without a doubt.

My question is I CT with cold water covering all my legs and half way up my stomach, is that enough or do i need to cover my torso? I thought the amount of skin surface area covered would be enough for cold adaption.

Ps I'm also doing leptin reset where you say no gym work, can i exercise now that i'm doing CT or do the same rules apply? I really miss my heavy weights!!!!

Oh my god… Jack you should win the next nobel prize. I'm being blinded by the unbelievable light emanating from this post… The world will never be the same indeed. I'm deeply humbled before you Jack, and oh so grateful

I know you and both believe I'm an Estrogen Collector – quoting you " If you have been an estrogen collector as a warm adapted hominid (most are too) you will notice some bumps as you adapt. Fear not. It soon shall pass. Just up your B12, B6, and your betaine HCL acid as you induce CT protocols."

What are the 'bumps' I can expect to encounter?

Aside from a nice clean Offal rich Paleo based diet, do I consider other forms of supplementation of B12, B6? What about betaine HCL?

what kind of fat loss can a woman who is 30 lbs over weight expect to lose? Weight always melts off with men. I am 1 week into auto-immune paleo and have noticed nothing but increased tiredness and odd pancreatic and thyroid pain. No fat loss. I am also very mercury toxic and started to gain after amalgams were placed 20 yrs ago. They have been out 2 years and i am chelating with no major improvements. The only diet that allowed me to lose was HCG but it made me so sick b/c i had a huge redistribution of mercury form fat stores and at 37 stopped menstruating.weight all came back after. I am hopeful this will help me FEEL better and lose this horrible fat… i dont deserve given the discipline i apply to eating. also how often should we do this to achieve best results?

"If you have been an estrogen collector as a warm adapted hominid (most are too) you will notice some bumps as you adapt"

Is this why I am now more fatigued after 2 weeks? Inflammation is lowering I'm feeling positive effects and sleeping well in fact- almost -too deeply…is this the bump in the road you are talking about? I am apparently releasing estrogen from fat and it's causing upheaval? How long should that last?

This is an amazing read -thank you!!! I will keep up the CT and the Leptin Rx…this is gold

mamagrok, what was happening with your hormones the first week? may i ask how old you are? can i email you or do you have your own website so i can ask you about your experiences in more detail? i'm afraid my future questions or your answers may become buried in 400 comments. thx

I too would like to know how much of the body needs to be submerged and brought to 50-55 degrees? Also, do you just have to bring it down to 50-55 and your are done for that session, or do you need to hold it at 50-55 for a period of time? If you do, how long?

Loved it, not surprising. Most excellent. A serious brain feat for you to get all the way here. I'm inspired to do better. Today I almost posted on MDA to see if it was okay that I had zero appetite after two hours walking sleeveless in the cold. Have my answer now! Thank you.

Why didn't you just say, "Chill, chew the fat, and sleep until you get it right?" Everyone is waiting for the list of bullet points in my house. This last one is awesome and it is very easy to understand, at least I kinda do. Supercool!

@Lee There is a wide range of humans…..this blog had to cover all variables……I have done my job. The information is there now for people to decide what they want to do with it……..I already know what I have done with it.

I have one question: is there a glossary of abbreviated terms??? it can be confusing for us newbies just tuning in. Thanks for your voice of reason. I have been contemplating eating seasonally, you have conformed my suspicion of how important it is. Thank you!

1. Does doing CT with the ketogenic diet obviate the need for doing the leptin reset, so we can just follow the "after leptin reset" blog?

2. Since everything is different in cold adapted humans, what does this mean in terms of interpreting various lab results? If TSH or T3 no longer matter in the cold adapted is there any reason to test for them? What labs might still be valid and important and which ones are "obsolete?"

@Rodney For obesity you need the Leptin Rx and CT because of speed. I realized after my theory was formulated in my head that I was killing myself by shortening my telomeres by just being fat…..so time was of the essence. So I reverse engineered the path in the brain using all I knew back then and started using lots of ice. I had no idea what I was doing but I lost 77 lbs in 3 months and 133 in 11 months so I think I did something correct. When I worked it all out in my head and wrote it all down and tied it to the neurosurgery I knew……it fit together too easy.

Labs when your cold adapted can be used to get you in good shape like a B+ that is where most of the paleo world is now……but what none of them realize their B+ might be costing them telomere length.

I think the best new business might be opeing a cryo gym next to every cross fit box in the USA. They likely all need it. If youre a Xfit freak go get your telomeres tested………if not you really are making a tragic mistake.

In a few months when I'm lean, lithe and tanned (pasty white now) I'm going to have to print out this post to everyone who's wondering what the hell my secret is. Thank you for laying it all out here like this… this is better than gold, and should earn you a Nobel prize as someone already mentioned. I do have a question, though- obviously this info is precious to anyone who's overweight with hormonal issues, but what happens later when we're all cold-adapted and superhealthy without the large fat stores? Do we just adopt a cyclical, seasonal eating/sleeping/exercise pattern like other mammals do?

@brenner the ones who try it yes…..but few families will invest the time with impaired folks. I have one PD patient who refused because he thought it was silly. I cant overcome bad neolithic thoughts. As I have said many times…….when the student in the patient is present the teacher in me appears. I do not try to force this on anyone. But when they want to know what optimal is compared to what they think it is……well…….that is a different story. Most them are shocked. AD responds well. Tonight I was contacted by a patient with cancer and they want to try it…..so we are going to do it. He has nothing left to lose and this is dirt cheap and he can do it in his house.

So we don't need to bring much down to 50-55, but we need to keep it there for 1-2 hours at a time while cold adapting the first few weeks? Then can we back off, or do you have to keep up at that level to stay cold adapted?

Awesome post. Ive been waiting for this one for a while. This world needs more people like you and hopefully after CT there will be a whole lot more! I am going to have to reread it sometime next week though, once my estrogen and hormones sort themselves out. Its brutal right now, although Im starting to adapt to my cold showers so hopefully it comes soon!

You say for the preformance side it takes 2-3 years to start to see huge improvments in VO2max. The one thing im confused about is for my sport should I slowly move to a ketogenic while cold adaping over lets say 2-3 months for once im cold adapted just cut the carbs completly and I will start burning fat as fuel. My first race is coming up and just wondering how quick i should make the switch. Im keeping carbs at 150 now.

And don't worry im in this for the long haul, if my performance has to suffer in the short term thats its problem! I cant wait to hear your stories! Your gonna change the world!

PS im reading the The Monk who Sold his Ferrari and I hope your finding your eternal happiness

@james for you to get into the zone your looking for…..Lance range…..you need deep CT and very ketotic but you wont expand your VO2max for 6 months…..then it will climb and climb. You wont believe where you go. But it takes time.

Dr. Kruse I would be lying if I told you I fully understood all the science behind this but I do understand results. If I understand correctly eat a strict primal diet and do CT as often as possible lowering skin temp down to 50-55 degrees. I am always amazed that is usually the simplest solution that works. I' going all in and I'll be back to let you know how it works.

"Turns out that there is something in this fat tissue that the developing infant brain really needs. The human infant brain is unusually large and it's not just hungry for calories, it's hungry for fat. In particular it's hungry for DHA, the immediately usable form of omega-3 fatty acids that has been found to be crucial for optimal infant brain development.

Unfortunately, the diets of most American women only provide half of the DHA that a pregnant woman and her infant need. Another type of omega-3 fatty acid, Alpha Linoleic Acid (ALA) can be converted to DHA, but this conversion varies (though interestingly pregnant women have upregulated conversion and the placenta also has the ability to push DHA "uphill" creating a higher level of DHA in the infant's blood than in the mother's) and can be down-regulated by excessive omega-6 in the diet.

The authors theorize that towards the end of the pregnancy, a woman eats less in order to foster utilization of her own fat tissues that are rich in DHA. The fat in the hips, buttocks, and thighs has more DHA than the fat in other parts of the body. This DHA has been accumulated over many years, starting in infancy." And so on…..

Thanks, I guess I just want to make sure it wont decrease in the short term? And deep CT and Ketogenic is NO proplem, Ive allready got plans to take atvange of being so close to lake ontario for the next couple months. And this summer ill have time to put upwards of 2-3 hours a day in my tub or pool at home.

This is all so exiting. Who would have ever thought I'd be getting in a cold tub and enjoying it? No one that knows me. 4 days in to CT and I can already feel changes. I can hardly wait to see how my next year goes. After 20 years of trying multitudes of different health care modalities I have had more healing in 8 months of simply changing my diet. Now the Leptin Reset and CT are the icing on the cake. Or, should I say the fat on the wild caught, Alaskan salmon? Thanks Dr K. Many, many thanks.

Just up your B12, B6, and your betaine HCL acid as you induce CT protocols.

Am I correct in assuming the Betaine HCL is for low stomach acid treatment? Can you elaborate on the correlation you might be talking about between non-cold adapted, high estrogen and low stomach acid?

@Steven all three help second phase estrogen detox as all the estrogen modern man collects in their fat cells is dumped into the blood. You need massive methyl groups to perform this massive detox. Estrogen speeds up our chemical clocks and is very pro growth. It needs clearance.

Wow. My head hurts. But I took two cold showers today and my muscles already seem more defined. I slept last night with wool socks, a stocking cap, and my window open with just an army poncho liner as my blanket. Doing the same tonight, and every night as long as the temp is under 50.

I'm guessing that at some point soon, this cold with not be so uncomfortable? Any supplements to help with this besides bitter melon and fish?

Well, you certainly don't disappoint! Of course, I need proof…I'm just wired that way. I'll be applying all your techniques and thoroughly documenting the results. To be honest, I expect great things because your advice has been "spot-on" so far.

@Horacio somebody told me about this person yesterday. I will need to look into it. Its clear from this link he has no clue its the cold helping him most. But I did notice he is in Patagonia so the Andes are also helping him too.

@Jack: This is great.. and the geek + ns makes it so much easier to understand for me!

I'm on my 5th wk of leptin rx and a wk or so with the cold. My question is about the "2 wks to cold adapt" part. I'm wondering about the variables. Do you mean being constantly cold (ie. 1 bath a day + constant air coldness in house/car/work), or is just one bath a day enough without being cold otherwise, or something else? I understand that many variables will mean it's hard to pin down, but since you stated a time length I'm curious as to what you believe needs to happen for someone to become "cold adapted" within 2 wks?

Also, if you become cold adapted and are otherwise healthy.. during the summer will you stay cold adapted through to the winter even if you don't do any cold baths or air conditioning? I would assume yes since animals seem to be, but not sure if I'm correct in my assumption.

@Erica when cold is no longer bothersome…..i drive around 24/7 with my AC full blast on my face. I cold train 3-4 times a week. Recently I have had to back off this for a bio hack I am doing. Women take longer because they have more leptin……the more cold you do the better it is…….Cold is King.In summer I do a ton of CT in my pool with 80 lbs of ice on me as I lay on the deck in the sun

What a piece of work! Thank you! You really got my attention with your views on Lance and Phelps. I am a masters athlete, but short-distance – miler. We KNOW fat is the best fuel for endurance; my leap of faith is to try this when carbs appear to be the only fuel able to deliver energy fast enough for the shorter, almost sprint distances. Phelps' diet would seem to bear that out.

@Simon Fat is the best fuel period…….the reason you dont know it is because it takes 2-3 yrs to get max VO2max adaptation. You can speed it up in low or high barometric chambers or use HBO to do it…….I know because I have done them all.

"Many aspects of mammalian behavior and physiology show circadian rhythmicity, including sleep, physical activity, alertness, hormone levels, body temperature, immune function, and digestive activity. All of these diverse rhythms are controlled by a single tiny brain area, the SCN, and are lost if the SCN is destroyed."

@Jack: So, basically 2 wks is a rough estimate and it will all just depend on the person and how often they use cold?

Also, if you live somewhere warm or just even in the summer.. wouldn't using cold be a mismatch to your environment? That is what is confusing me the most.

I understand that cold is awesome, but I would think that when you are no longer unhealthy that you should just follow the seasons of where you choose to live like animals have too? Obviously you could just choose to live somewhere always cold, but if you want to live somewhere that has a summer is it not optimal to live warm in the summer and cold in the winter.. basically just following your seasons?

@Erica it is a mismatch that reverse all your previous ones……see this is a way to undo all the old mismatches. it works in reverse. and you can measure the effectiveness in your telomeres and hormones levels. Erica if you have no issues and your telomeres approx you real age sure…….i have not met one person in 6 yrs who fits that bill. Test your and see what it shows. I bet your surprised.

So we can fix all these things by CT+keto… what's the point in testing… CT+keto changes things rapidly – so there's not much point in trying to adjust hormones w/ supplements/pills – by the time we get results back things have changed already?

What about leaving the testing for later…. once body has stabilized to make sure everything is in order?

I'm willing to invest the time. I have a hyperbaric chamber (OK, so I'm an obsessive geek, I admit it). Live at moderate altitude in Colorado, so take myself down to sea level (actually 6 inches underwater, I think :)) to boost recovery. Any clues how to incorporate that? (I am new here, still finding my way through all this STUFF. I will have to put by a so0id week for reading, I think.)

@mere's question: I am kind of in the same boat. Did 2 rounds of HCG – major failures, but in hindsight and thru testing, now realize that I have major detoxing of cooper and mercury to do. About half the weight is back, despite Leptin Rx and mostly keto. Dr. K – I am also suspecting MTHFR gene anomalies not allowing me to detox properly.

So the question is can CT help us to detox not just extra estrogen, but also heavy metals? I plan on using methyl folate and methyl B12 too, as well as zinc (pyroluria). Is there a danger of detoxing these heavy metals too quickly?

@Simon I felt I have had to do this for a long time. You read CT 4 and CT 6 and then try to explain that to the masses simply…….its impossible My Quilt is an idea I formulated to do it…….now that you get my reality I can addd pieces and you can see where it takes you. The paradoxes in biology all of a sudden make sense.

Maybe this is why so many people doing paleo reach a weight loss 'stall' or even on the GAPS diet or Bee's healing diet seem to gain a lot of weight. There is no talk about any cold therapy here. It makes sense though, obviously.. the developers of the diets are always talking about the inuits DIET but never the climate. Although, the native Masai have long life spans as do the native Amazonian and Aborignals despite never experiencing extremely cold weather. Could it be because they would live through lower temperatures in general (only 12 degrees C at the coldest) without modern heating? And eat in a way that doesnt't damage receptors and hormones in the first place?

v – go to marksdailyapple.com, sign up for the forums, then find the massive leptin reset thread ("Jack Kruse style") there. Find me and PM me or just post a question on the thread. I'm 36.

My first week, my weight was swinging all over the place & my energy was up and down. Others have seen excess sebum production, stored excessive estrogen leaving the body (but causing temporary sexual side effects on the way), all kinds of things. Anything that causes fat to leave quickly can do this, as the toxins stored in the fat temporarily enter the bloodstream, and CT has done it for us!

This is a very troubling blog. You're writing is very really quite difficult to follow. Your thoughts and arguments are just a series of disjointed ideas, random phrases, non sequitur sentences. And you go on and on. Jack – something has happened to you.

You've spoken about avoiding metal on the body during CT. I have a copper IUD and was wondering if this has any negative effect? I assume since my skin and body temps have been in the right ranges that it's probably okay.

Thank you for sharing all of this with us. There are many who would have hoarded something so powerful.

How long after cessation of cold stimulation do you lose signalling an switch to warm mode? Also, since you mentioned the effects are cumulative and it can take someone up to 36 months to get maximum benefits, does someone long-term cold adapted lose their adaptation slower than someone who has been doing it for say six months upon cessation?

thanks so much Dr. K! i definitely plan on using chelators and i am researching the best ones now…. i heard other practitioners say that the body will fight to put the fat back on b/c it sometimes does not know how to expel the toxins and fat is the safest way of storing them.

Bears don't hibernate. They go into a deep sleep. They can be awoken mid-winter with some prodding (been there done that). They differ hugely from animals that hibernate, such as the marmot. I wonder if this different adaptation to a long winter is important in your optimal-human theory?

Once hibernating, a black bear can doze for many months with a body temperature of 88Â°F or higher, which is within 12Â°F of summer levels. By contrast, the body temperature of smaller hibernators such as marmots, chipmunks, and ground squirrels may drop below 40Â°F. These daintier creatures must awaken every few days, raise their body temperatures to summer levels, eat stored food, and pass waste.

Lots to take in for sure! I will read and re-read this to get it! Thank you for sharing your knowledge so willingly to help so many! Am currently doing four days a week (just started) of CT and for 30 minutes. In a previous post you'd said length of time should be BMI but guessing as you're doing an hour or more than more is not harmful? My BMI is 22 but my body fat percent is high and I'm working on that! Also thanks for the amazing cookbook! I've gone through it twice now and making my list for hitting the store but am still undecided which to make first! YUM! You said you stuck with fat/protein and let your wife eat the "garnish"…..so during the winter you won't even eat the smothered cabbage, coconut kale with bacon or smothered bok choy? Or just keeping the portions small to not go over 25gm carb to stay paleo ketogenic? My carbs are <25 right now but previous to trying this I would average 80-100gm on a high day, from coconut milk, brussel sprouts, kale and other non-starchy veg…..Thanks again for everything. I can not wait to see results of my many neolithic diseases reversing and hey that fat loss will be good too, like bacon covered brussels =)

@Jack: Thanks. I understand it better now. I am def no where near optimal. I was just speaking hypothetically. I just wanted to clarify a mismatch that I saw.. assuming someone was completely healthy. I was also just wondering about how long it would take for someone who was cold adapted to lose it. If one summer would do it or not. I figured no since animals have to follow the seasons and they're ok during the winter every year, but I wasn't sure I was correct in assuming we were the same.

1) So you're saying Crossfit is BAD for me? You're the one who got me to start it! 2) I'm wondering where you get your calcium in winter if you don't eat any veggies at all nor advocate cal supplements? 3) how exactly does one get used to submerging themselves in ice water? I mean, that sounds excruciating. Is there a protocol in one of your blogs for cold-phobic beginners to ease into CT relatively painlessly? 4) are steam showers and hot tubs, then, BAD for your leptin? 5) At what point in CT -weeks, months- can I throw my synthroid away?6) WTH is bitter melon?

@Jodi A thought for your……if I told you all this back 4 yrs ago you would have thought I was nuts……so what I did to you was what I did in the Quilt for the rest of the world…….slowy walked you down the plank until things made a lot more sense to you as your reality radically changed…….one step at a time. The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step…..and continues with small steps and big wins. Tonight was a mjor step in your evolution of thinking. This information will truly save your life and heal up your hip. Crossfit is OK for crossing the bridge……but when you realize their is an optimal way then the choice is yours to stay where your comforts lie or come to the edge of your comfort zone and see where life is really lived and quite fun. The choice is yours…….I am just a beacon on that road to help guide.

Great Stuff Doc thanks for all the great ideas. I live at a ski resort in British Columbia and so I'm fairly well adapted to the cold, but I'm telling my wife I need to start sitting naked in the snow and sucking on a salmon to improve things. She just gives me one of her looks. Seriously, I've turned down the heat in the hot tub to see if I can make that work.

This time we booked the local church hall to go through CT6 as we don't have enough space in our clinic for all of our patients their friends and family….We open doors at 7pm tonight.

One of our very enthusiastic patients has prepared a list of your acronyms to hand out and another a professor in biochemistry has already been through CT6 3 times and is very keen to start the night. Will update you later this evening.

Epic post, Doc, epic. This was the post that made me see how many CW and neolitic thoughts I have cluttered my mind with, even up until today. I need to start trusting this… And believe in the signs I'm experiencing daily. I realize I don't need the gym or sprints… What a relief!

@Glamorama It explains all the paradoxes in the literature and why relying on the literature is an epic waste of time……they are studying animals who are mixed…..some warm adapted some not and they have been mixing them all up for 100 yrs…….now you know why we see some studies with certain results and others with opposite. We have two biochemistries…..and if you do not control for that your data is worthless.

Wowzers! LRx + Paleo + Seasonal Keto + CT = My Optimal Rx. This is fantastic! This turns off so much noise in the medical community and brings clarity…finally! Thank you Dr. K for your service to your fellow soon-to-be-optimal brothers and sisters!

@Ben G not really……on the heat tolerance.
BenG I am strict in the winter……real strict. I go zero carb for 4 weeks around the winter solstice. There is no number per day. I have a spread sheet I use for the light and temp cycles that I decide to use to guide me when I can add carbs back in……..usually its around 3/15 to 4/15 this year its going to be much later based upon my labs.
When your cold entrained I would not go above 25-50 gms……For me I am tighter than that too. That is a personal choice that you can check with ketostix. I dont bother doing it because I live this way now close to 7 yrs.
I go to the snow quite often………..for obvious reasons and I usually wear very little it catches people by surprise

Dr K, I have 2 questions. First a practical question: I live in Chaz, SC. where it is hot, hot hot for a long time every year. Is being cold adapted going to make me less able to tolerate the heat? Does one have to keeo house colder w/AC & stuff like that?

Question 2 about body alkilinity & vitiligo. I am guessing you don't hold any stock in body alkilinity question as this diet must keep the body on the acid side of things and you are a "stickler' abou no veggies in winter. One thing I noticed my skin pigment was returning about a year ago when I was juicing & eating lots of veggies and was alkiline for the first time in a while. Do you think this was a fluke?

@Emilie 1.. droping the temp in your house is smart and easy. Using your car AC works too. Ice in the summer on your body as you sun works too……all things I do.
2. No I dont. Our body control that process ideally. It needs no help
3. vitiligo is an AI from a severe leaky gut that destroys alpha MSH. Cold raises alpha MSH. There is you aha moment. Micheal Jackson did not need plastic surgery or diprivan he needed cold…..

Awesome night… still going 3 hours into it…. hall full, no chairs left everyone on the floor.. 247people last count( but did give up when it started and people still came through the doors) not one person has left, not even for toilet break..only movement is when someone stands up to ask questions or explain…thought the Chaplin was going to ask us to leave at 9pm but he was just stretching his legs..I'm sure we will have a large group of early morning swimmers at the beach tomorrow .

@Barbara it is noble of you to be honest…..and it is fine. My job is to illuminate the science to you…….I will never force it on. But you the public have pounded on my profession for too long……..I have just lead you to the water of optimal. it is now your choice to drink from that well. Good Luck

Hey Doc, I printed this sucker out! Now if I could just find my college hi-light marker! One quick question.. Are the recipes in your cook book labeled by season? OK maybe 2 ?'s Is MCT oil in the winter never a good idea? I can go w/o coconut oil in winter but I love making my home made vinaigrette with pure MCT oil.. I don't think it would be quite the same with bacon grease.

bummed that I missed Erwan on Paleo Summit. Could have used that to help the mind change that is coming about the exercise. A goodly number of people have landed here from the Crossfit community and their promotion of Paleo or Primal – until CFHQ went commercial with Zone and Reebok. With so much focus now moving toward competition in the Games, it will be easy to walk away since wellness, not athleticism has been my focus. But it is a lot healthier to run to something rather than run from something. Leaving a box with all the programming, structure, endorphins, companionship, motivation to start an individual home protocol on your own, is daunting. So wish you had a CF box that was ready to go rogue and become a Cryo Cube. Not sure where I am going, but I am so thankful if nothing else to feel good about how I HATE exercising in the summer and my firm belief that the only reason one should do so is so that one can have the thrill of running through the fading deciduous trees of fall and the dusting of snowflakes come winter.

@Jack, I bow to you. You have connected so many thoughts in my head since I discovered Hcg 4 years ago. I had an epiphany then, and in the last year since I have discovered your blogs, many since then. Especially in 2012! Thank You!

I have been doing LRx since October,and CT for 4 weeks now. The first 2 were rough, but now I am noticing so many benefits…to many to mention!!And I know it will keep getting better. I do have about 20lbs to lose to be Optimal.

I have 2 questions, that I am pretty sure haven't been covered, as I have read everything, but pardon if I missed them.

1. I am deathly allergic to fish/shellfish, anything from the water. How can I get my O3????

2. My daughter has a water bed, would it be ideal to sleep on overnight with no heat, or is that too long?

Thank You so much, you have shown me the way to my health and that is the most wonderful gift anyone could ever give!

@LauraD I would go to an allergist and reverse the allergy…..its that important. I bet you have a leaky gut and not a real allergy
2. Its a great way to cold adapt. Water is way more thermally conductive.

Lots to contemplate Dr. K, I have quick question. So is there any issue with starting a shower warm and slowly lowering the temperature till its as cold as it can be? That way I can stay in much longer but full cold at the beginning I have a urge to flight or fight. Yesterday I took my car in for an oil change. I completely forgot I have been driving around with my ac at full blast ( it was low 50s). The auto tech was freaking out when he brought the car back and I was wearing shorts and a t shirt.

First off – a heartfelt thank you to you doc. First time I ever remember reading something that resonated so deeply without me really knowing why.

Secondly – on a practical note, I don't have access to a bath so will be making do with cold showers for now. We do have showers at work so I was thinking of incorporating a cold shower into my lunchtime to increase my overall daily cold exposure. Would you mind posting a brief protocol for the cold shower approach? I can't find the NASA one you mentioned online. Many thanks

Father: 78, Early type 2, obese, ypertensive, bad lipids, all the hallmarks of Syndrome X. Repaired him a bit by trying to manage his diet and extensive supplementation, but still a ways to go.

Mother: 73, Parkinson's, missing gallbladder, medically-induced osteoporosis. Severe spinal damage due to corticosteroids (lost 5 cm of height), but thankfully malformation kept all vital organs out of the way. Likely all issues were due to modern medicine who tried to 'repair' her with corticosteroids for 2 years after a lung autoimmune issue… and caused havoc with all the rest. Responding extremely well with D3 supplementation and heavy K2 usage, actually we only judge by the Parkinson's as she has been at it for 2 months, but if her bone structure responds similarly, we are on a good track.

Father-in-law: 73 Advanced type 2 diabetic, but very active and lots of fish in his diet, which I guess has saved his ass so far as he goes overboard with carbs onc in a while. Still remembers that time in his village as a kid, running around barefoot in the cold, surviving on nothing (there wasn't much around), never getting sick, and stil being full of energy. Couldn't explain it, but he insisted it was true. I now believe him… and I can explain it to him. Ex-tailor by profession, I'll have him modify some off the shelf vests to carry medical ice packs in netted pockets he'll line in the interior. And I'll draft them a schedule of gradual exposure. Interesting design exercise for him, by the way.

Now that's a good sickly sample.

Wifey and mother in law not fully sold yet (they freeze too much) but are watching from the sidelines. They'll come onboard eventually I guess.

Then I'll draw the following labs to start with;

Salivary adrenal stress index and salivary hormone panels, HS-CRP and fasting insulin plus a host of other metrics and off we go. I'll regularly repeat the CRP, say monthly, and the panels every 3 months or so.

Judging by how 2 x 20 min cold showers seem to reshape me, once I have us all hit the ice and adapt, things will get interesting.

Some specific questions:

You mention estrogen detox. Would NAC augmented by 2x or 3x times Vit C help? I read it helps with liver clearance. Am considering 1200 to 2400mg in divided doses. As regards the B6/B12 combo, have an issue with mom as B6 interacts with her levodopa/carbidopa medication. I do have them all on B12 and folic acid, D3, K2, selenium and magnesium, in addition to their normal medications.

I want the panels to establish baseline and see what CT kickstarts, then I may be adding R-ALA, CoQ10, PQQ and bioidentical precursor hormones to the mix to help the situation more. This latest part along with a doc who understands this stuff. Although, if cold works half as good as described, it may not be needed for everyone.

This is going to be an interesting ride, to say the least. Stay posted for results. As you say, Jack… things are going to change one person at a time.

@Laney without labs there is no comment……to be made. Its like flying blind. The best thing to say is when you have neolithic disease start simple….Leptin Rx, Leaky gut Rx and CT…….then keep testing……that is what I did to fix me. It works because it covers all bases as you rewind your chemical clocks

@Jack – Bears, like humans, are omnivore, opportunisitic eaters. Are there studies comparing those that eat traditional diets and live in fully wild environments versus those that have taken to eating human neothlic foods at garbage dumps and in city dumpsters and exposing themselves to artificial light at night? Do they become diabetic? Do they fail to hibernate? What happens to them?

@Jack – I'm 5 weeks into the Leptin Reset dietary protocol and have been doing CT for one week. Before when I asked you about my blood sugar being high (FBG over 100 in the morning), you said I was still adapting and should give it time. I'm still in the low 100s. What gives? I mean, before the Leptin Rx I was down to the high 80s most of the time in the morning. Now I'm consistently 20 points higher AND I often feel like crap in the morning (fatigued and headachy).

@The Kid PEPCK in liver…..takes time. LR at liver. Leptin Part Deux is the reason be patient grasshopper. took you many yrs to screw it up and it wont bounce back when you want…..it will happen when your liver chemical clocks are ready

@Jack – If it's normal to cycle through the seasons using circadian cycles yoked to light, then what are the implications of inducing permanent winter through CT. If, as you say, living and endless, warm-adapted summer is bad, then what about living a perpetual winter? Can there be negative side effects?

Jordon Tootos mismatch from Inuit gene pool to Nashville humidity does not explain why he is such a goon on the ice…Wait a minute…Maybe it does? Thanks Dr. K for transformational commitment..not just to doing the research, proving it on self, but to the dogged determination to answer everyone of our questions….

@Jack – Do you think your theory has any bearing on the phenomenon of differential phenotypes amongst various species by climate. For instance, the polar bear is the largest of all bears. Canadian wolves are larger than American wolves. And, interestingly, while listening to Dan Carlin's history podcast, he describes the Roman accounts of their first encounters with northern Germanic tribes. The Romans described them as these amazingly large, strong, robust people who, despite the weather, wore nothing but scant animal skins.

Do we have evidence that these Germanic people were healthier than the Romans? More importantly, do we have evidence of a health decline once they were absorbed by the Roman empire and started living the so-called "good life" that was made possible by the Roman system?

@Jack – To quote Tim Ferris: "The extremes inform the mean." I mention this because life also seems to thrive at the other end of the thermal continuum, with extremophiles thriving around undersea volcanic vents. Would this point to possible adaptation benefits of hot environments?

@Jack – I think that it is clear that you have a longevity bias. What are we looking at in terms of life extension using Leptin Rx and CT? And more importantly, what does death look like for a cold-adapted human? If we won't die from modern disease and suffer the all-too-common end-of-life scenarios we see today, then what kind of death would a cold adapted person experience?

@Jack – You frequently point to the Inuit as having lived ideally prior to the introduction the SAD diet. However, history has had records of the Inuit for quite some time, I suppose. I imagine something on the order of a couple hundred years. Why is it that we don't hear stories of amazing longevity amongst them?

@Jack – Are you saying that mammals that live in warm climate aren't optimal? Or are they yoked to the light cycles in a way that allows them to be optimal despite not having cold. I mean, pretty much every animal in their natural warm habitat looks pretty optimal to me. Lions look amazingly optimal. Are you saying a lion would be even more impressive of a physical specimen if it were a cold-weather species? I ask, because I feel you are implying this about humans — i.e. hunter gatherers or traditional societies around the world aren't really optimal despite whatever health advantages they have.

@Jack – You have said before that this is essentially a bio-hack. And a hack, by definition, is not the normal use or path of a thing. And just as there are risks in computer hacking, I am concerned about risks in bio-hacking as well.

If you hack a computer, you may extract the data, but you may corrupt the hard drive in the process. So what are the side effects and risks if any? Is any of this permanent? Can the body go into withdrawal if suddenly its CT isn't available to it?

I ask because the body has a tendency to upregulate and downregulate certain process depending on various circumstances. This is why its not always a good thing to do hormone replacement therapy. I am concerned that maybe CT and ketogenic eating could have some impact on organs or body systems that could put you in some sort of danger should you ever have to (or choose to) stop living optimally for some reason.

@Jack – You assert that diabetes is not truly a disease. However, we know that there is a magic number of 140 for blood glucose. At this level, damage starts being done to the body. Are you saying different? Or are you really saying that there is a period of the year during which a human could or should become "safely insulin resistent" in preparation for winter. If so, then how do we define safe? And how long can you cycle like that before, some year in the future, you become truly diabetic?

@The Kid……I think this is where Rosedale is right. Patricia Kane work says the same thing. Carbs screw cell membraine signaling at even low levels. The paleo demigods need to read her work. Once they do they will stop making fun of Rosedale. He is right sugar kills………at low doses.

I am going to have to stop reading your blogs and the comment sections for at least a little while, because, even though I would like to sleep more using my natural circadian cyle, my mind is so blown away that sleep is becoming near impossible! I am also driving my poor husband nuts. I am doing my best to keep him alive, with your help, so that he can enjoy his golden years. He is willing to go along with the program you have outlined, especially with the diet change, but this isn't his preferred reading material and I am relating as much as I can, so the NS sections helps me a lot. My non-reading husband just wants me to give him the "action" portion of this program. It is hard for my mind to rest when it is so stimulated with all of these new and fantastic ideas.

I know that you cannot "give everything away", but you do not know how grateful I am that you have so willingly, and enthusiastically given us so much already.

Thank you so very much.

BTW, per your suggestion to another commenter, we added krill oil to my husband's supplements, which also include fish oil, and the improvement in his knee and ankle function has been short of amazing! With a knee that needs to be replaced, and an ankle that the screws have come apart in (from prior surgery), the man is hardly limping! His doc wants to know what is going on, so we will be seeing him today. We are hoping to encounter another open mind with this young doctor.

I just jumped into the squirrel pot. I have the sun glasses coming for blue light. I thought the goal was to stay below the equinox. I now don't know how I got that idea. I haven't fueled my brain well enough apparently to browse the answer. The longer you're in the dark, the better it is…Does the light need dosed evenly, or can it vary? I.E., Sunglasses all day and night on weekends, and just commute and 5 pm on workdays?

I am a woman who is super-morbidly obese and I have been on the Leptin reset since January 2 and the ct for 3 weeks. I have adapted to the ct quite well, but wieght loss has been zero. I bounce up and down 3-4 pounds but no loss, measurements remain the same. I had a total hysterectomy seven years ago–no hormone replacement. Will leptin reset and ct still work for me, just take longer? I need to believe there is hope.

@FMA read the Leptin FAQ blog. It takes the morbidly obese longer but CT helps huge. YOur hormones should be looked at in my opinion to make it quicker. Your call though. Keep me informed. I love helping the obese because i relate to your situation well.

I'd like to second the coconut oil question from above — and also include coconut manna. Should these be scrapped in the winter? Will they impact adaptation noticeably? I still eat plenty of animal fats (eggs, grass-fed meats, mackeral/sardines), but am rather addicted to my raw egg shakes w/ coconut manna every morning.

Secondly, per CT. I've moved on from the face dunks to cold showers in the am and baths at night. Right now I'm sitting in the tub with ice on my neck/upper back and chest and stomach. I can last 45 minutes pretty easily.

Problem is, I shiver a lot when I jump into bed afterwards (w/ pants, long sleeve shirt, and socks) and need two comforters to reach a tolerable state. Am I going too fast?

Also, do we want use less blankets in the night and embrace the cold then too?

I'm about two weeks into CT. I doubled the frequency of cold showers the last three days. I ate BAB at 4:15am in the morning..got to 50g of protein and felt stuffed. Then ate dinner coconut oil, beef, etc. couldn't even finish the plate. I felt stuffed. It's. Killing. my. appetite.

I feel like it's hard for anyone here to really dispute or critique alot of what you write. I'm a pretty well-informed Paleo guy and a med student and I don't really know where to begin…

So if you're saying cold on the SCN –> eNOS activation -> disconnects light as circadian cycle dictator, would that logically mean if I take an ice bath a few hrs b4 bed, then temperature and not the LED lights from my room would dictate my sleep cycle? AKA would the artificial lighting affect me less?

@Daniel Think of it liek this……your a neuron. Your entrained to cold……and at 8 PM LED lights hit your retina. What is that signal to the brain mean? The sun just rose…….it does not uncouple your entrainment to cold…….it means you just created a mismatch in your brain and cortisol naturally rises to this light…..so you caused a mismatch that throws off your diurnal cortisol……this is why modern man has so many diuranl cortisol issues…….technology. And technology is decidely Paleo. Especially the dogmatists.

You said you were going to have an interview with Jimmy Moore. You and he should get together and you should fix him. I think the whole blogosphere would be watching! I think it would make a profound statement. All this is WOW! It also makes so much sense in an evolutionary light. Thanks for all your hard work.

Jack, My head is bloated… Anyway, I have lived at 76N (Thule, Greenland) most of each of the the past 5 years. Trips to Pheonix every 3 months.

No tubs, will shower work? Also, I work with many Greenlandic Inuits around and you can tell some of them enjoy to much pizza and pasta all winter!

I am probably not cold adapted even though I don't mind M30-M35C as much as before, but M40 is a bit much. I walk in this temp, and all temps up here, 2-3 times a day for 8-10 minutes a whack due to my job. My room is steam heated and stays around 68F, guess I should turn it down more at nite to help.

It will take me a long time to digest all you have said but I will keep pushing.

I have been allergic since birth, nearly died a few times when my Mom ate fish and nursed me…I stopped breathing, rushed to the hospital. But I am on my way to an allergist appointment!I certainly would not rule out leaky gut though.

First thanks for sharing your discovery and excitement! I sacrificed a ton of my gila to try and understand all this Lol! You are either brilliant, or mad, or both – like mad brilliant! I have a zillion questions, but I'm going to hold them, mostly because my head is aching right now. I read in one of your posts that you were trying to train some other doctors on this,can you recommend a doc in NY (any friends from your time here) who could follow me through this, for the lab work especially.

Dr. Kruse, Is there any reason why I/we could not become a patient of yours if we are on United Health Care insurance AND live out of state? Couldn't labs be ordered and results reviewed without an actual office visit?

Dr. K, you blow my mind! Thank you! I've been doing CT for 4 weeks now and I'm starting to feel great! The fat isn't exactly melting off but you've given me hope that within time things will begin to change for me. Thank you for sharing! You're awesome!!

Thank you again for another fascinating post! I need to re-read to digest everything. I'm wondering, after 3 1/2 weeks of CT working my way up to a 52 degree bath, if I am releasing "things". About an hour after the 40 min bath I get nauseated and sometimes diarrhea. It will stay with me for a few hours afterwards. This has been going on for a week now. Should I also be taking something to get those toxins OUT of my body?

@Caathy It fits in as you try to rewire. You can do it without BHT but it you must be strict with CT protocol and the diet……most people have huge hormone issues that need to be addressed. If you have a lot of neolithic disease I think it has a role in a treatment plan.

Dr Jack, I have nerve damage from having a benign menengioma removed from between the lobes. I think the synatic nerve is damaged behind the knee or that's where the damage is measured. The result is I have drop foot on that leg. Is there anything I can try to encourage the reconnection of this damage? I can move the toes down slightly but haven't been able to get any up motion since the surgery. The Leptin Rx and CT are coming along. Wondering if I have it in my bag of tools to do this repair?

We help many people we help with IBD (like Crohn's or Colitis) start a restrictive version of low-carb SCD. In a lot of cases, these patients deal with this issue of "wasting away" and "not being able to gain weight" and they blame the diet, even though they are eating 3,000+ calories a day of meats, fats, and veggies. I'm beginning to understand that it's just another form of leptin resistance… and I look forward to testing cold thermogensis.

Have you tested Leptin Rx with any IBD'ers or do you have any specific advice for those types of cases?

I'm working hard to understand the pathogenesis of this pattern in IBD'ers.

Each post gets better and better – thank you from the bottom of my sub-optimal heart for sharing this information with us despite critics and nay-sayers.

I read 2/3 of this post last night from a cold bath for 55 min and only got out out it to pee. (Seems like that cold water makes the kidneys work overtime!) But reading this has underlined my desire to stick with CT in the biggest way. I have 80 lbs to lose and my hormones are off so I am in it for the long haul – but this information has come at a great time for me. Thank you, again.

I can feel your excitement while reading this post. The feeling of discovery, to want to get the word out to anyone who will listen. Sometimes when I am looking thru my telescope I get a fleeting feeling of what it must of been like for Galileo to make his discoveries by looking thru his homemade scope. And yet nobody believed him.

I hope everyone believes you. It can change our nation back from obese to fit.

@Conan Its not about me and never has been. I used this to fix me first. Now its about changing my profession and helping people we have let down too long. That is long overdue. I think we can do that now. In fact, I know we can. But patients need to become proactive and get their skin in this game.

Ok. I am half way through the blog. It was so good it kept me occupied for an hour of CT today. Question – this seems to fix a lot of the biotoxin pathways. What will be left for my biotoxin doctor to look at? I see him Tues. Any advise?

You are right. Too much time wasted. I am hitting this with the big guns. I want it all. Thank you. I am beyond thrilled. I never would have guessed that I could be in the drivers seat to reach optimal.

Thanks doc! I want to get rid of this crap inside of me ASAP so I'm not slowing down. For all of us feeling the symptoms of released toxins, excess estrogens, etc, is there anything to take to mitigate those symptoms?

Dr K, after 3-4 weeks of CT I'm seeing slow adaptation and lots of positive symptoms/changes in hair, skin, body comp etc but I am not seeing the 'detox' symptoms that others talk about, yet I know I have E2 to dump and other imbalances. I am not stopping (and am doing keto paleo, seasonal, and matching to circadian/light cycles and sleep and am NOT stopping any of that). But should I be concerned about lack of detox symptoms?

I may be the only Paleo blogger (I am not one at all but am lumped in with them) who stresses the Ice Ages in my book. Every one else seems to subscribe to the Savanna model. Few, if any, recommend a diet of about half sea food and fresh water fish as I do. So, we are not all alike. How long have I been cold training? 30 years of shivering in a cold gym or pulling my RR up and down my driveway on a cold morning. Sprinting and brief intense exercise are leptin mimetics. So, there are ways to drive those pathways other than CT. When I show up to play tennis in the morning cold I play just in shorts and a teeshirt while the others are bundled up in snow suits. Maybe I am a data point for your hypothesis. Maybe not, because I prefer to train hard but briefly no matter what the temperature, though I prefer the cold. None of this detracts from the importance of your hypothesis. Great stuff.

Dr. Kruse – I'm sure there are many variables that come into play with the time it takes one to cold adapt. However, since you mentioned the 2-week timeframe I'm wondering if you can elaborate on what it means for those who aren't adapting so quickly?

I've been doing CT for 3 weeks and it's just not getting any easier. I've done the face dunks, cold showers, ice packs (which have burnt me by the way) and 6 baths. I get excited to do this thinking it's my ticket to health, but then I shiver like mad in the tubs and I'm still cold walking around outside in 50 degree weather. I thought I'd be adapting a bit more by now. I even keep my house in the low 60's to try to increase my adaptation.

Are there reasons why some take longer? I'm not noticing any benefits yet either; in fact, I seem to still be gaining weight even though I'm eating a paleo ketogenic diet. I've had hormones and everything else tested and all seem ok except for my thyroid which is slightly low. Thoughts? Thanks so much!

@Bridgette if you burnt yourself you are not following the protocol. It clearly states if your skin gets white and you blister stop and get your 06/3 ratio checked before going forward. If you are going to do it your way I have no answers for that. You clearly need to be tested for many things before you proceed because you may need work done prior to CT. That means your telomere testing and hormone panels may be quite bad. No way to know without testing. The people at MDA fought me on testing for 5 months. Go ask them. Now they all test and they are all hitting their own homeruns. This is something that requires testing. I test myself every three months religiously. I will not bend the rules for myself………Or my family. If you are meeting resistance this should a be a BIG sign to you that maybe you need to TEST.

@ Dr Kruse you said: all three help second phase estrogen detox as all the estrogen modern man collects in their fat cells is dumped into the blood. You need massive methyl groups to perform this massive detox.

So are you saying high estrogen levels in males creates low stomach acid?

Dr. Kruse, can you point us to some literature on the accuracy of telomere testing? It makes sense biologically of course, and you seem to place quite a bit of stock in it, yet it hasn't been around too long. I totally get it that your pushing the frontier here, but why should be place such confidence in this test?

@Dan Its not organ accurate……but for what I use it for for bio hacking I do not need it to be. I just need a rough estimate at how bad the person is today……this test gives it to me…….if your 15 yrs older than your real age you got somebody actively dying. Then I use the hormone panels to fine tune how bad the organ chemical clocks are out of alignment…….and I work them backwards…….I am sure we are going to get into this at Paleo fx next week. The best data in the world as of 2012 in telomere biology is from Dr. Blackburn work. She wont he Nobel Prize for medicine in 2009. she has a new start up to find a telomere test that is tissue and organ specific. She does not even know how I do the bio hacks using hormones to figure out how the organs are failing…….This is something I have taught myself by trial and error on myself and my own patients over 6.5 years as I have gotten them better…….their disease just start to vanish. And their need for medications slowly wean and they come back with some amazing stories. Just wait til you here about my first surgical CT story. I picked the worse case possible to do and it was a smashing success. This is paradigm changing.

Dr. Kruse, I have been thinking about the following question since day one and I believe I know the answer but I am curious of your thoughts. We live close enough to Lake Michigan that we go there about 6 times throughout the summer and my kids have zero problem (aged 8 & 5) of getting in the water no matter the temperature. Am I correct in thinking that there bodies have yet to be fouled by modern life and food thereby making it easier for them to deal with the cold? Thank you as always.

@Larry their chemical clocks are not wound as far forward as yours are and they have ther stem cells……you dont. That is why you are different. And that is why a telomere test is an eye opener. Because it shows you how bad your thoughts have screwed your biology in real time.

Dr. Kruse – you mentioned above in a response to Jordan re: IBD patients that they should avoid dairy. Is IBD considered an AI disorder and that's why it's necessary to avoid it?

I have hypothyroidism, but not Hashi's and no AI's that I know of although I do believe I have IBD (just not formally diagnosed). However, I find goat milk kefir and yogurt to generally help my gut and it usually even keeps my weight down. Is this a bad idea? Or is it an individual thing?

@Bridgette IBD in my eyes is an AI and a very serious one. Anyone with a leaky gut is destroying their life force and stem cells to a great degree because the GALT lies so close behind the brush border and it just destroys the immune system to generate a massive chronic asteroid shower of cytokines constantly. The worse telomere tests seem to be in patients with gut issues…….and then sleep is right behind them.

Amazing work. For me this is 3D physiology! A heroic work to understand the principles and pathways in our biology. Used to research in the field of signal transduction and know that not too many people have a 3D thinking. You do!!! Love it. Thanx

For those that are doing ice packs, do you have fabric in between your skin and the pack? When I do that I don't really feel the cold at all. If I don't have something in between though, I'm finding I get skin burns.

@Brigitte.. I make my own ice packs with zip lock bags- 3 parts water 1 part rubbing alcohol. That way they stay slushy and flexible. I do wear a thin shirt/yoga pants between my skin and the bags. If you make yours with alcohol they are way colder then the store bought ones. I got one of those clay packs at CVS and it, well it sucked.. Not cold at all.. The only problem is that after about a week the zip lock bags begin to leak. I have been keeping them in a larger bag so my pants aren’t soaked when I get to work

@Bridgette, yes I have a layer of fabric between my skin and the ice packs. But I use compression, too and the fabric is thin – so the ice is not right next to my skin, but its tightly compressed. I don’t just do spot icing when I do the ice packs but put them everywhere (torso, spine, neck as well as thighs and tummy). My skin turns cherry red and I shiver (which can begin when I drink that icy cold drink just before starting).

Am I correct that the 50 – 55 CT is in F not C ?
so I need to gat the bath temp down to 12 degrees C?
and I need to cut out dairy,vegeables etc and eat seafood, offal and animal fat? Im 15kg overweight what about CO?

@Lisa is this a joke? 55 Centigrade and cold thermogenesis do not match each other do they? You honestly think they go together? Of course its F. Buy a paleo 1.0 book and follow the diet in their. You need references to rely on if your asking these kind of questions. I feel very uncomfortable with them honestly.

I am trying to put the pyroluria mismatch into perspective. The self isolation is actually combined with not eating. I am remembering my teen not coming to the table and being angry when I forced her to sit with us whether she wanted to eat or not. Since the urine is not a hibernation clue, I am wondering if shutting down the digestion, purging the zinc, and upping the insulin would cause growth? The stretch marks were specifically on her spine like perpendicular tiger stripes in the curves and also on the hips. I am going to try the urine test before urchins and after (if she even feel like eating them… she’s game to try), but I think shutting down digestion is energy conserving. Hopefully, its one of the two. My little brother also did that sort of thing and he was in a situation where he was bounced around with sporadic meals and grew to be 6’6″. He would just lay around for a month or so every year, and everyone though he was depressed. He would get up and eat every few days. He had achey joints and had to go to the doctor and learn stretches. He’s fine.http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3520252?dopt=Abstract

Dr. Kruse-Thank you for your amazing work, I can not stop reading your site and trying to digest what you’ve written. Two questions:

1. I’m an aircrew member for the Air Force…think international commercial carrier. My sleep cycles are constantly interrupted and changed as we travel the globe for weeks at a time. Even before I read your blog I was aware of the fact that it was wreaking havoc on my body and now more than ever I am understanding the WHY of it. I wish I could change it but the hard fact is that I’m stuck in this career field until I can retire in 6 years. I’ve been eating the “standard” paleo diet advocated by Robb Wolf and it’s changed the quality of my life drastically. Even if I use your cold therapy and change to a ketogenic paleo diet, will it be all for nothing due to my constant disruption of my sleep cycle, or do you think it will at least do some damage control until I can retire and resume a normal lifestyle?

2. I’m a crossfitter and along with eating Paleo it’s done wonders for me. Now I read your blog and I’m having second thoughts. I am certainly going to have my telomeres tested to see where I stand, but if someone is cold adapted and eats what you’ve prescribed is it possible that an intense workout like crossfit can be beneficial in the long run if they aren’t out of control with it 7 days a week? I’m there 3 to 4 days at the most and our fitness model has always been an olympic lift followed by a short , intense metabolic workout (sprinting, body weight exercise, etc) What are your thoughts?

@Steven F. Stop X fitting ASAp. With your job you might be killing yourself ASAP. If I were you I would get teh telomere test ASAP. You need to know because shifted work and endurance exercise just will zap you so fast. CT will help offset the shift work but in my experience endurance exercise very rapidly cause cardiac fibrosis and conduction issues because it destroys autophagy rapidly which leads to heart failure in all humans. To check it go get a DHEA level or an IL-6 panel cytokine level. If youre in the bottom quartile you got major issues to deal with. Then I might ask you to quit your job or make me the beneficiary of a new term life policy on your life. Yes, that serious. The paleo diet for you is an excellent choice. Add 99% chocolate to it immediately (2 lbs a week), lots of turmeric (every meal) to your food and start CT ASAP. Keep me in the loop. I have an FAA controller I made quit last yr and his story is a lot like yours.

@Santiago…….I am not done with this story. I still have not told that I have a lot more proof. I am waiting for the skeptics to speak. I have much more yet to unload. Factor X is going to blow peoples mind too. I made many promises but I have lots more ammo.

I really need some dental advise. I have 3 root canals (yes 3-a bummer) and have been planning to have them removed this summer. There is a biological dentist about 4 hrs away from me. However, 1 of the root canal teeth has started bothering me and needs attention right away. I just called my regular dentist, whom I like. He can do the extraction and they say all the root canal material is in the tooth and will come out w/the extraction. Can I skip the biological dentist and just go to my local dentist? For all 3 or just the urgent tooth? Also, what do I do after the extractions? Implants? bridges? Dentures? (I do take good care of my teeth. Flossing throughout day and brushing….and I know my new diet will help…that before agriculture and inflammation few teeth issues).

@Jack I see you mentioned a couple times about lunar cycles in addition to circadian rhythms. Do you outline this somewhere? I’ve been following some ancient practices for a few years, and am curious if your take matches the ancient disipline I’ve been doing.

For circadian rhythms, you mentioned about turning off the lights when it gets dark out and not eating 3 hours before going to sleep. Now it looks like coconut oil and some starches go on a seasonal cycle. What is the story with the lunar cycle?

there is something I don’t get from your Ketogenic diet. If you don’t take fruits or vegetables on winter, where you get the antioxidants, polyphenols, some vitamings and other good stuff of the plant kingdom?.

@Santiago Spices like turmeric, rosemary, basil, cialntro, oregano, seaweed, all in my bone broth recipes in my cookbook. all my sauces for my meats use this as a base. I also eat 99% pure dark chocolate and occassionally I will have some Argentine Malbec from Mendoza for the resveratrol In winter wine is rare.

Dr. K – I have tested many, many times now. All parameters actually look pretty decent, which is why this is so frustrating. I have no idea what I’m fighting here or why the CT is giving me so much trouble.

My thyroid is a bit low – that’s the only issue I seem to have. hsCRP was very low (0.05), vitamin D levels are good, cholesterol is good if not a bit on the high side, hormones seem decent (possibly a bit low on progesterone), but overall good.

I’m not sure what else to look at. I need to find the root cause of my issues. I was hoping just doing the CT and Rx would be my ticket to optimal, but the CT is proving much more difficult for me than I expected. My body just doesn’t seem to be adapting.

Re: comment 241 – my skin doesn’t get white or blister at all. The ice packs don’t cause me any discomfort when they’re on. It isn’t until the next morning that I’ll have large red areas on my skin that are sore to the touch – almost like bruising.

Maybe I shouldn’t have called them burns. I’m not sure what it is really. My skin gets cherry red while the ice packs are on, but definitely not white.

Wanted to just tell you how appreciative I am of your willingness to help the masses of those that will listen and do. I have many health issues, was born very premature, sick all of my childhood and on antibiotics often (bronchitis/asthma). Started developing allergies in the mid-teens where now as an adult some have intensified into anaphylactic reactions and I continue to develop more new allergies. I’d self diagnosed myself a very long time ago with AF but try to avoid doc’s as often as I can and tried to self treat on and off over the years. As my health continued to spiral down and my breathing issues and heart issues got worse it was difficult to work full time as my job is very physical walking anywhere from 5-10 miles in a 12hr shift depending on census and it is definitely a craze of emotions at code’s, trauma’s, etc. Have done many conventional tests all which come out “normal”, except being told I had APS at one point due to the skin discoloration and multiple blood clots. Right before Christmas 2009 I was hospitalized with hypokalemia at a level of 2.4 which explains lots of the breathing/heart issues (although no one can explain why my body dumps it at times). (I know that high levels of stress, extremely poor nutrition majority of the time and chronic over exercise (2-4hrs per day, mostly cardio with times of strict fasting days on end) led to the start of my fatigue/muscle issues maybe 12 yrs ago and believe things would have shown up long before if it weren’t for my times of strict ketogenic eating and more normal exercise of 2-3 days of weights). I was also told that I had extremely low vitamin d at a level of 9…..after discharge from that stay I continued to search for someone to treat what I felt was AF and hypothyroid and found a great, mostly alternative neurologist who ran tons of blood work, listened to my story and symptoms, etc. in May of 2010. He found it unbelievable that no one once questioned my temperature which was consistently 94.5 to 94.7 during my hospital stay. Anyway, long story short he explained “normal” lab values are not correct, showed what needed to be changed/improved with my labs as my hormones were crazy off, diagnosed me with AF, CFS, hypothyroid, FMS, vitamin d deficiency and osteopenia…..I was put on many supplements and three rx meds that were slowly increased in dosage (and told to eliminate sugar most of the time). I must say that I am not sure where I would be without this doc, he has helped me very much but I’ve been on FMLA in severe shape twice since August 2010 according to him due to extreme AF, stress and lack of sleep. He has said he really can’t do much more for me but continues to try. I have not seen him yet this year but will be in a coupe of weeks. I plan to direct him here to your website. I will also need to explain to him why I stopped on med the 1st of the year and started weaning off another slowly at the same time (which I will be off of by or before the end of April depending on if decide to continue slowly weaning or stop altogether). I am sure he will not like this but as in the past will say it is my choice and if it goes awry he will be there to help get me back on my feet. I will need him to write me a new rx for my last med to wean it as it is time release and compounded but in case he won’t I still plan to stop it very soon. My energy levels suck. Basically I work my three 12’s, do the bare minimum around the house and rest and read the remainder of my days off. I hate what my health has done to my attitude, life and marriage as once upon a time I was vibrant (although assuredly dying on the inside faster than I was aware!). I can tell you that I know I always feel bad when I eat bad and feel better when eating paleo with little fruit, no nuts (allergy) and skip the starchy veg. Protein and fat are my friend but yet I would continue to do well for 2-3 weeks, have a horrid day at work and promptly come home and make extremely poor choices of nothing but junk planning for only that night but usually lasting 2-3 days where I’d continue to feel worse in every way, knowing why yet being stupid enough to continue! Now I’m doing paleo ketogenic (just starting to incorporate Leptin Rx rules) since Feb 26th without a waiver even having four very harsh/sad days at work and started CT Feb 29th after work because your Holy Trinity post totally inspired me and gave me hope that I can and WILL be healthy if I CHOOSE to…..I’m choosing to and I’m going to take my health back and do just what it takes to get there, each and every day because of the tools you’ve given me! Getting my health back will improve every single area of my life! CT is harsh at first but I’m an all or nothing girl on everything I do and jumped right into the bath itself (eating the fat/protein, drinking the water and removing all of my titanium piercings first)! My biox dropped, I was super short of breath every time I’d try to fully submerge and my heart raced like crazy. When I finally couldn’t take that anymore (only 9 minutes in) I had my husband (who thought I was crazy) help me out…..my oxygen saturation was 83 and my HR 186…..that night and the next day I was fully exhausted to the level I did nothing and it felt like my typical spiral down before a flare up of all of my health issues that usually end with me missing work…..that day I only did ice packs to various areas of my body…..I had not planned to skip a day, felt bummed but so physically exhausted I thought every other day won’t be too bad until I can work my way up and I have! My next bath lasted 24 minutes with oxygen saturation only dropping to 88 and HR at 136…..I skipped a day again due to the same exhaustion of barely able to keep my eyes open (of course that never helps me sleep better at night when I need to!). I did another CT session and this one lasted 30 minutes with a decent enough oxygen saturation of 93 and HR 138…..that was yesterday and while tired I did not have that same exhaustion as the previous two…..and today? I did it again, the first time for me to do two days in a row!! It was another 30 minute one and my oxygen saturation was 95 and HR 123….not bad considering my oxygen saturation is normally 95-97 and resting HR is 105-115! I am doing this and so excited because I know that I will become OPTIMAL as I do the steps I need to with consistency and I will! Guess what? Today after my 2nd day in a row of CT I didn’t feel as tired and actually feel a bit energized and in a super positive mood!

Oh and after reading to my husband (who’s been making fun of me and saying he’d NEVER do this, it’s crazy) last night about your bench press going up by 150lb, how you lost fat, etc. guess who decided to do his first CT session today? He made it 24 minutes his first try! I’m hopeful he’ll start following the other parts of the Holy Trinity as well (he does basic low carb maybe 5 out of 7 days of the week although he has done months at a time before in the past) not as for fat loss but for health as he has many serious health issues of his own (asthma & has been on a vent, almost died), chronic sinus issues and some muscle pain here and there). Of course after his CT he did say that Dr. Kruse is the spawn of the devil =) I’m betting he does it again tomorrow though!

So coconut oil is not ideal in the winter? I really love it and use it to cook most of my food and then, I’ll add raw pastured butter. I also make a treat with 1T of coconut oil, 1 T of raw cacao (only has a couple of grams of carbs, and 2 drops of stevia. Is this still ok to have every day, even in the winter? I also eat mostly grass-fed beef and some salmon and shrimp. We like to eat the salmon raw and use the nori sheets to roll it up for sushi. I had read that grass-fed beef is loaded with O3. Why isn’t that just as good as fish? Thanks! Awesome blog

@CW CO is not ideal if you are already fit with good hormones and solid telomere profile…….in CT or winter or fall. It is ideal for summer and spring. Now if you are rewinding neolithic diseases then it is ideal because it provides a huge enegy break to our brain……and our brain consume 20% of cardiac output. I covered this in my Quantum electron post. I also reviewed this in the CT series when I discussed the Kreb cycle.

Question regarding CT – I have been spending 30 minutes a night on my back with ice packs on me. Would you see any problem with me placing a metal baking sheet in the freezer, then placing that on my stomach with the ice packs on top.

I know you had previously mentioned that metal is an excellent heat conductor, but indicated it could be dangerous – I just thought if it got too painful I would just remove it and just stick with ice water, AC, and ice packs like I have been doing – but wanted to ask and see if you thought it would be effective.

In process of measuring myself for an ice vest – I am simply stunned at the effectiveness of this ‘cold stuff’. My immunity has gone up, my cold tolerance has gone up, I have busted through a weight plateau I couldn’t break through with 10 FASTING DAYS

I have been eating mostly 100% grassfed fatty chuck mixed with onion powder and Real Salt, along with raw pastured egg yolks and coconut oil, and supplementing with grassfed butter oil and fermented cod liver capsules – is there something in seafood besides omega 3s that make seafood so critical?

though my heritage is from a part of India that eats a lot of seafood – I find it really hard to digest without white rice (how I was brought up)

@Golooram The reason seafood is critical is tied to FACTOR X that will be in my book…….the last chapter. But I will give you a lead……cell membrane physiology is the basis of all epigenetics. I told you in my cellular theory of relativity that the speed of epigenetics is the source of all of our mismatches. That implies that in my theory Epigenetic speed control mechanism is critical. How did we speed it up? We did it by increasing cell membrane fluidity by incorporating massive amounts of 0mega 3’s in our cell membranes and removing all of our carbohydrate sources that block signaling. This overcomes slower mammalian reproduction rates in cold, but as time went on this benefit is precisely what created the evolutionary pressures to forum the human brain from the primate relatives and created massive mismatches for our particular species. The speed was so rapid that there are FEW LINKS from us to primates. This is why the fossil record of our descendants are poor. No paleobiologist can explain this finding considering how many fossils of all other species we have found. The main reason for this is Factor X and is the origin of my entire theory. It is where I believe the Ancient pathways was selected by Mother Nature. Once you understand Factor X my entire theory breathes more life into many more mysteries of hominid physiology. Power law mathematics and biology are married by mother nature.

@LEXI I was just reading oall of the stomach acid estrogen remarks and cross referenced it to the pyroluria… The testing is going to take awhile and it looks like the mop up is going to be really tricky. i was hoping we maybe able to exchange info…igoataround@yahoo.com

Dr. Thank you so much for the latest blog post! This question is to the commenters and the Dr. How do you people stay in the cold water so long!? I live in Wisconsin and the cold water this time of year is so cold I only last 5 or 6 minutes in the tub and then I shiver for a couple hours afterwards. My hands and feet remain off color and numb for a couple of hours as well. For the record I have no major health issues and low BF so maybe that has something to do with how the cold effects me.. or I’m just not cold adapted. Thoughts?

You recommend butter/ghee but in other places you say no dairy. I am assuming that you mean no dairy EXCEPT butter/ghee, but I am not sure. (Maybe it depends on the particular state of health — for example, people with gut or autoimmune issues should avoid ALL dairy, including butter/ghee?)

Making my husband read this – he’s a RR engineer & works all hours. Thinks he’s offsetting it with exercise & convinced he is ok because he’s in “good shape.” Especially showing him the reply to the Pilot!

I’ve been laying down in the tub from the beginning. I thought that because I am fixing my degenerative disc disease, and my disc bulges are between my shoulder blades and in my neck, I should be getting the cold water there. So I lay down with my head resting on the edge, and water up to my hairline. I keep my arms out, mainly to hold on, because my feet only just reach to the end of the bath.

I mentioned before that I haven’t been able to feel heat or cold on my left leg since 2003. I noticed last week that I was starting to feel patches of cold while in the bath. Today as I sat in the filling bath, with 5Kg of ice floating around my legs, I realised that both my legs felt the same! I spent the whole 45 minutes gently moving my legs from side to side, amazed that I could feel it! Wow! Dr Kruse, can it really heal this fast???

Dr. Jack, cocoa, turmeric, bitter melon, etc are all tropical and subtropical plants. Wouldn’t eating them in industrial quantities all year round and out of their native zone create a mismatch? Thank you, as always, for the stimulating and thought provoking blog.

Thanks for the input Dr. Kruse. I know you can’t provide any more details on labs over the internet and I appreciate the info you have given. Looks like I have some research to do on optimal hormone levels . . . and I need to find a new doctor.

The new infrared thermometer shows cold water temp is around 64.9 degrees, so added several ice bags and it went down to 61. Of course the temp doesn’t stay there, so the bags are moved around some to circulate the frozen bags and cool down the water more. I know it is not cold enough (still), but has there been ANY benefit since the water is not 50/55 degrees? [BTW, the weird hand numbness that appeared twice (in one or the other hand) has not returned.]

Thanks for your response Dr. K. Well, you said CO is for the obese and I am not that but I am far from optimal, about 10 lbs overweight, high body fat % (just from looking at myself), my BMI is at the highest number of the normal range, and I just keep gaining weight with my cycle each month…just gained 10 lbs in the last 7 months..2-3 lbs each cycle and it doesn’t come back off…I would say my hormones are a mess (I am 43 and do have regular 28-day cycle so not menop). I did hcg to lose 10 lbs and have gained it back. I have been supplementing with krill oil for years now, also take cod liver oil, eat some salmon, but mostly grass-fed beef and a Paleo diet/ketogenic for a couple of years now. Is that ok to eat more beef than fish? Grass-fed beef is said to have lots of O3. What do you think? I took my first cold bath tonight, yahoo, lasted 15 minutes but I think I could have gone more. I had the compression shirt on but didn’t use ice. Water was 52.

@Bridgette, Which book of Thierry’s did you get? The ones I see are using hormone therapies. I am seriously trying to avoid taking any hormones. I want CT and Leptin reset to balance everything out for me :).

I' been working through your website and post for about 2 weeks. As I mentioned I was working in the field of signaltransducion/cell control. My journey into health startet with a huge health challange – I got a breastcancer diagnosed exactly 5years ago. Started my research after I got caught up with "conventional" therapy and found out how scrwed up I was. Everything was wrong – tho not overweight – too fat, bloodlipids way off, VitD toolow etc..I t took me so long to find someone here in Germany to be able to read all the data and string ist together.I sartet reading about Carbohydrates and what they do – the wholey moly. Then I started to coach people, who saw my health progess – and I'm so gratful to be able to give all what I learned for me back to other people. I'm so glad now that I did not study medicine at the time – but physiology and molecular biology since that gives my the tools to read and understand.The more I read in your blog, the more I have the feeling I have seen nothing yet. My complete knowlege I need to gether for people and literature away from Germany because here is so little movement scientificly. All the medical bigshots here working on cancer or chronic deseases are completele dogmatic. Its just frustrating. Thank got there ist the internet with so bright people like DeVany, Wolff and you – just to name few standing with so many more. I think is possible to conncet some bright undogmatic people together to create something, witch is bigger than the accomplishment of one person standin alone. I'm diving into your work – researching like crazy and hope I can spread the word here in Germany.

@Body science cancer research is nothing more than a money grab here in the States too. I said in the CT series I believe cancer is no longer a disease either. I am beginning to run a human experiment on an end stage metastatic prostate CA patient with CT. He has run out of conventional options and his surgeon wants me to help him so I am going to give him my best shot. I shot my dogma dead on Thanksgiving 2006 in front of my entire family when I was 357 pounds and told them I was going to be a new person in one year. CT and my Leptin Rx were put to the test. My dogma was blown up

@Jack – Thanks for the krill oil tip, I’ve been meaning to get it. Maybe I said too much in the earlier post, but I really want to know: The new infrared thermometer shows cold water temp is around 64.9 degrees, so added several ice bags and it went down to 61. Of course the temp doesn’t stay there, so the bags are moved around some to circulate the frozen bags and cool down the water more. >> I know it is not cold enough (still), but has there been ANY benefit since the water is not 50/55 degrees?

@ Bridgette, I was lucky enough to attend a 3 day endocrinology course run by Thierry 3 years ago. I feel his work and care is well beyond ” the best current practice”. Until I do Jack’s protocol on myself, it is my intuition (coming from a trained engineer/scientist :->), that Jack’s work is several quantum levels above that . Two good markers to test progress that we now have are Telomere Length and Arginine Challenge test. We are the fortunate few to have a neurosurgeon batting for us!

@john Thierry is the best teacher as a hormone guy…..my methods are quite different……i understand how to interpret the panel to find out what is the real issue. Thierry is the replacement only guy and does not understand the 30000 ft picture of neurohumoral neurochemistry…….that is a different ball game.

Jack, I notice in your recipe book, your Optimal Coffee has, amongst other ingredients, 1 teaspoon of cinnamon. Tim Ferris, in The Four Hour Body, warns against consuming more than 1.5 teaspoons of cinnamon per day, because the coumarin it contains is a potent blood thinner. Your thoughts?

So what's with warmth feeling good? Why did our neolithic brain trick us into seeking warmth – is it similar to why we seek carbs/starches and we get a rewarding feeling from it while missing the natural stop (winter)?

@Souldanzer Our brain evolved into warmth……it never saw cold initially…..but our genes were born of cold adapted animals…….so this program was buried in our brains outside of our sight……Since our evolution was sped up epigentically by Factor X it is the main reason why we remained blind to it until the NASA space walk findings.

For clarification on the tooth extractions. I am having 3 teeth extracted that already have root canals done in them. I would much rather not have to drive 3 hrs to the biological dentist. If my regular dentist can do it that would be great but do I need to worry that some of the root canal material might be left behind? And, I did read that you advise having root canals taken out, right? There is cause for concern regarding cancer so I should have them extracted?

I’ve been doing a ketogenic Paleo diet for the past 2 weeks, adding cold water baths/cold adaptation, cutting out starches/fruit/MCT’s and tropical oils. I do seem to be leaning out without losing muscle, starting to see my abs (first time in many yrs). I think you’re on the right track Dr. K. I hypothesized a few yrs ago that living in the North would help prolong my life (but I thought it was just due to cold temps slowing aging based on enzymatic reaction rates lol)…but at least I wasn’t far off.

Neuroscience originally turned me off since it was mostly lectures on neuroanatomy (seemed they didn’t know much) and hence I was interested in orthopedics. But I’m really starting to believe the brain is the black box organ that controls all. It just doesn’t make sense for us to lose much of our original strength and power as a species to evolve a bigger brain if we didn’t even give our brain full control of the body. Neurosurgery seems to me to be the final frontier in science…

@Daniel Nothing in science is cooler than the brain. It remains the one thing on this planet we know shit about. That is why I became a neurosurgeon. This was one of my big findings, the ancient pathway. Im looking for a lot more now.

@Jack – Help! Since starting the Leptin Rx 5 weeks ago my skin has become seriously dry and flaky all over. Itchy as well, although some itchiness is fading now. Been doing CT for 1 week and have started monitoring my body temp. It seems really low: consistently 96.3 or 96.4. Dropped to 93.8 after CT one night. Should I be concerned by the dryness and low body temps?

@Coriander,
I am not Jack, but I know the answer to your question ;-).
You have to use Ceylon-cinnamon, NOT Cassia-cinnamon. Ceylon-cinnamon ist a bit more expensive and usually organic brand also – wich is better too IMO. Cassia-cinnamon is the regular cheap one you can buy everywhere. It is made from a different tree.
The whole cinnamon-rolls also look quite different! Ceylon-cinnamon-roll have thinner layers, looks more like a cigar.
Ceylon-cinnamon has almost no cumarin! You can use it liberally.
I use it myself every day in my coffee, a la Kruse ;-).

Thank you Dr Kruze for CT6. This is addictive!.Accidentaly found your site looking for info on vlc for DH last Sept.
Dear Dr’s M & M, are you aware of where we can have a telomere profile done in Australia? If not, is it possible to organise?

@CW – I ordered Thierry's Hormone Solution. I'd prefer to avoid taking hormones too, but as Dr. Kruse has said before they may be necessary in certain cases to speed things up. After just doing a bit of research last night I'm thinking I may be estrogen dominant (even though my fool o f a doctor said everything looks ok).

Only problem is everything I read indicates progesterone cream is necessary for dealing with estrogen dominance and I've tried that in the past and gained tremendous weight nearly overnight! Definitely don't want to go down that road again.

@John – I couldn't agree more. I'm thrilled to have a knowledgeable, generous and kind doctor in our corner with Dr. K. It's refreshing to know not all in the medical field are blinded by CW, $$, or just plain brainwashed by the pharmaceutical companies. Dr. K has mentioned though that some may need hormone replacement for a while in addition to the CT + leptin Rx, so I want to know what I'm dealing with here and be able to understand the severity of my issues so I can make an informed decision about how best to proceed. Good to know you were impressed with Thierry. I'm anxious to get his book. I just realized though that it's from 2002. I wonder if his approach has changed much since then.

Jack, Does the rapid increase in epigenetic changes when our membranes take up o3 to become more fluid explain why it becomes easier to sense what is good for us when we live and eat well? I certainly feel the after effects of a bad choice much more clearly now.

I have avoided using much pufa oil for some time (except fish and seafood) because I was worried about increasing inflammation. Are these oils only safe in the winter, cold adapted, without starches and in the right ratio (also fresh and unadulterated)?

Thank you for giving us your incredible interpretation of science so that we can make our own choices and ask our doctors to think differently. The last time I saw my doctor she said that she was hearing the same from others. You have given me the confidence to keep doing my small part but our system takes away so much of the freedom to think.

Have I wasted time/water IF—The new infrared thermometer shows cold water temp is around 64.9 degrees, so added several ice bags and it only went down to 61. Of course the temp doesn't stay there, so the bags are moved around some to circulate them and cool down the water more or place directly on an area of skin. >> I know it is not cold enough (still), but has there been ANY benefit since the water is not 50/55 degrees?

@Jack…another epic post that makes me say WOW. all connected together I'm seeing the pathways "switching" like train switches do, every time I do a CT session. My sessions are getting longer & I need more ice packs and a vest! at the end of yesterdays 3hr session – I noticed my arms, shoulders, chest and back were tinged w/a rosy pink color – and I wasn't doing CT on them! I'm running HOT through out the day. I wake up and I'm hot, even in moderate weather of 35-50 degrees…and now that we're getting this early spring w/ days in the mid 70's I'm miserably HOT!. One thing I've recently noticed is my face looks younger and my skin over all is more elastic! Since returning from my Week Long CT session of snowboarding in Idaho – I'm now going from a CT session straight to my work out – be it a walk w/the dog, a bodyrock.tv HIIT bodyweight session, or a LHT session… and I've seen major improvements even though I'm working out less! I've also noticed my clothes are fitting differently as well… the CT has also helped me as I work on the extermination of parasites and candida – my detox time was much quicker w/the CT. Now to figure out how to swing a cold pool in the back yard!

From that NY Times article: "Humans and other animals exposed to cold will first shiver to get extra heat, Dr. Moalem said. But after a while, they generate more heat by burning a special form of fat: brown adipose tissue. "

Dr. K, aren't you saying the opposite? That the cold and shivering will burn the WHITE AT?

I am also curious about the answer to this question. AFAIK, the people that Steffansson studied ate lots of seafood, did not eat many carbs, would have lived by the natural light cycles, and lived in a cold environment. Yet, I don't remember them having an unusually long life span, and the pictures I saw of them definitely showed some fat. If they were not optimal, how can I be?

TheKid Says:

March 7th, 2012 at 9:26 am

@Jack – You frequently point to the Inuit as having lived ideally prior to the introduction the SAD diet. However, history has had records of the Inuit for quite some time, I suppose. I imagine something on the order of a couple hundred years. Why is it that we don't hear stories of amazing longevity amongst them?

@Sandy the records for longevity are not well kept…….people have looked. The best data we have is from Schweitzer and Price. Prices data was later and Schweitzer's quite early when they were not touched by modern man, artificial light or the SAD. The longevity data in Finland and Sweden are also helpful.

@Lexi – Above Dr. K writes: "STEP 4: When cold is perceived by skin cold receptors over two weeks leptin is liberated from fat cells in massive quantities. Cold empties fats stores like like a fire empties a movie theater. It can occur even faster if the method of adaptation is controlled with metal. The modern Zeltiq procedure does this in 45 minutes in a medical office. The cold liberates leptin directly from white adipose tissue (WAT). Cold environments induce a long buried epigenetic program in all mammals that allows for WAT to convert to brown adipose tissues (BAT) to burn calories as free heat and not generate ATP or to increase ROS simultaneously."

I'm a little confused about CT. I have Lyme Disease and am still recovering from what seemed like an overdose of Plaquenil…off the med 3 wks now and still not driving or working or walking or breathing normally. I was told that the Lyme spirochetes make your body temp lower because they don't live well in higher body temps. I was also told to do far infra red saunas for detox. With the CT program, will this make my Lyme worse? Should I stop the far infra red saunas?

I remain a skeptic, however I thought I would let you know some things that have happened to me after 3 weeks of 1 hour daily CT (3 20 min sessions at 45 F). First, I have secondary amenorrhea, but after three days I got my period. It was long and painful and I had lots of bloating and cramping, but once it was over I felt much slimmer. Sleep is better but I wake at 1 am every night because I am hot and thirsty. Finally my bms have always been problematic but for now they are totally normal.

Dr. Kruse, you may have uncovered an open secret among care-givers throughout history. I am somewhat surprised to have encountered the following quote from a novel published over a century ago:

"And now did the colonists possess an efficacious agent to act against the inflammation which might occur?

Yes. They had one, for nature had generously lavished it. They had cold water, that is to say, the most powerful sedative that can be employed against inflammation of wounds, the most efficacious therapeutic agent in grave cases, and the one which is now adopted by all physicians. Cold water has, moreover, the advantage of leaving the wound in absolute rest, and preserving it from all premature dressing, a considerable advantage, since it has been found by experience that contact with the air is dangerous during the first days."

I have suffered from pudendal nueralgia which manifests as pain in the clitoris for 20 years. At least that is the last "name" my condition has been given. have been all over the country to meet with specialists, have had operations with neurologists, have done every normal, and some crazy treatments, out there in an effort to stop my pain. The pain happens mainly to the touch, but there is also some burning sensation that has started in the last few years. Fun! Everyone has given up on helping me, but I won't stop trying until all my options are exhausted. I was wondering if you would be willing to let me fly to Nashville to see you? I can see how forward thinking you are on your blog and I would love to see if you could help me. I need someone willing to think outside the box, because modern medicine has given up on me.

@julie I think I could work with you over the net when my new website is launched. Wait until that happens and then we will talk. This problem sounds difficult. One bit of advice, start Krill oil and fish oil and increase seafood in you diet now……you need to ramp it up for about 6 weeks before we talk.

If any of you have a puzzle to put together, you should get your dna done. I'm now looking at about twenty different things and if I had those results in my hands, I'd know which way to turn. I don't know about your in-laws, but mine were perfect and didn't have anything "wrong" with them, any problems had to come from my side.

This has taken many days to read mainly because I like a comprehensive understanding, so off to the printer this goes for more ruminating at work. Your thoughts of physiologic function is way over my head. This post and your blog is treasure trove and will keep me going for a while. I continue to struggle with application as a nurse. Nearly every time I discuss health issues with a patient I know the doctor is taking another course of treatment . . . very vexing.

Anyway, I lost 130 pounds in 2010-11, am at near optimum body composition (B+), and using CT has been mulling in my mind the last couple of years like a deep shadow, waiting. I just didn't know why. Now I see and will have to overcome the barriers of discomfort. Thanks for providing another yet challenging N=1. Already started acclimating by ditching layers outside, now onto (or into) the H2O.

You continue to be an inspiration and we nurses need to learn how use this in our practice. It may mean career changes, more education, who knows?! The only thing constant is change and we need to be pliable or we will break. The future really is big and its ours. Once again, thanks.

Jack, I have been doing CT for over a month now, i.e. ice packs on stomach at night for about 2hrs and a cold shower in the morning. My face and the back of my neck are very dry. I do take vitamin E and CO and eat VLC and I do apply CO to my face and neck, any ideas as to why the dryness?

Salute you Jack, and thank you for making the herculean effort to put this down in a blog.

There are many confirmations to 'what I suspected' – many answers to 'what I doubted' and still some questions left which will, I am sure get answered, as we all proceed holding your hand.

Tell me – Is CT protocol contra indicated in anyone.? Or, to put it another way, should some people take some precautions before staring the CT protocol.?

I had my Tonsils taken out as a 6 year old, several decades ago. Ever since my immunity to throat infections including laryngitis is horribly reduced, especially with the onset of winters or if facing a cold draft.

@Resurg if you have a real bad heart bad and circulatory system you need to be careful……that is why I said in the CT protocol you have to clear it with your cardiologist. But you can just increase your slope of adaptations. CT really helps immunity

Dr. Kruse, I have a question about tendonitis, tendonosis and tendon calcification. Do you know what the possible causes can be (besides overtraining/bad coordination or bad diet)? Can CT and ketogenic paleo reverse it? Is it better to move the body or to stay away from movement like yoga, sprinting, HIIT, clubbells/kettlebells??

Do you think it is possible to reverse food sensitivities after stopping leaky gut(inflammation of gut lining?

Your blog gets more impressive every day. So I better keep reading and rereading and learning.

As Mr. Spock would say: Live long and prosper!

Greetings from Germany

PS: Did you ever hear about "Kneipp Therapy"? German priest Sebastian Kneipp healed his tuberculosis by swimming in the ice cold Danube several times.

Dr Kruse, I'm sure you are aware that James Fitzgerald of Optimum Performance Training will be presenting at Paleo FX as well. This is a man who lives on data. I hope you two can link up and talk performance! I know i will be asking him in June…

@ Lee: are you talking about the MTHFR gene test? I plan on getting this done soon from Amy Yasko's site. Where did you get it done? Did your results come with recommended / individualized diet and supplement recommendations. Sent you an e-mail last night.

I'm in such a quandry about my root canal situation. I have 3! I think remember reading you telling someone else to get them out. So, I've been reading your site trying to find your stance. I read "Pulling your teeth is definitely not paleo……..you need to act to stop it" on your teeth blog. Do I need them pulled or do I have an alternative. With 1 acting up I need to decide quickly.

Still waiting/hoping for the pilot light to turn on and the weight to come off. I've been doing this since the original blog post on the evolution of the Leptin RX came out. I'm up to about 6 times/week on cold baths, but I can really only stand to be in there about 20 minutes tops. I do put cold packs on my torso at other times, and take cold showers. I have not lost any weight. I have not gained any strength. I am cold 75% of the time. I do think that my body composition may have improved, but the measureables (weight and strength) have not proved that. I jacked up my o3 intake to see if that is the issue – not yet. I have been Low Carb/Paleo for just over a year.

Would one be able to get "cold adapted" by using one of those cryotherapy chambers? They claim to lower the temperature of the skin to 32 degrees Farenheit but it only lasts for 3 minutes. I'm just curious if one could get cold adapted using one of those. If so one would think the popularity of them would increase 100x after reading your cold thermogenesis series and the life altering effect they potentially hold

Tinea Versicolor, ongoing for over a year. 8-9% BF. (they told me it is bc I live in humid Charleston, SC) Strict paleo minus some bleu cheese here and there. CT since you first wrote about it. Only been able to get water temps to 63 bf my ice melts. Ordered a deep freezer to make larger quantities of ice. Think the lower temps will knock it out?

So I'm home visiting Mom, you know the 72 year old with the 6-pack and BF around 12%. Here's a list of my observations:

1. She doesn't heat the house: "Because I'm too cheap."

2. Eats only fish, mostly Salmon, and eggs for protein and fresh fruit and vegs for carbs, with the caveat that she doesn't eat anything that is out of season: "Because I'm too cheap."

3. Swims 3x week for 1 hour in an outdoor pool. (A little over a mile in distance, no breaks with flip turns, hence the abs. Maintains a tan year round.)

Doesn't believe in gyms, but chopped down the 70 ft maple in her back yard BY HERSELF a month ago. Yes, that involved climbing to the top and hand sawing branches. (Who needs a gym when you are clearly insane.)

4. 1/2c chocolate chip snack at 3pm, every day.

5. A sherry glass size of red wine most evenings with dinner.

6. To bed by 10pm in an unheated room.

This has been her lifestyle for the last 30 years.

When she left for work this morning it was 50 degrees and she was wearing a T-shirt. She smiled at me and said "Now when people ask 'Where's my jacket?' I'm going to say 'I'm cold adapted.'"

Have I wasted time/water IFâ€”The new infrared thermometer shows cold water temp is around 64.9 degrees, so added several ice bags and it only went down to 61. Of course the temp doesn't stay there, so the bags are moved around some to circulate them and cool down the water more or place directly on an area of skin. >> I know it is not cold enough (still), BUT has there been ANY benefit since the water is not 50/55 degrees?

Exercise as most do it does not. Training recovery pathways maximally and efficiently does. There are modalities and technology currently available that I would go out on a limb and say may do it even more efficiently.

Vasper is indeed interesting, but FAR being able to create optimal performance. It's just a tool, but not close to being able to exponentially increase human potential. It all comes down to the brain controlling everything, and if we can stimulate the neurology properly, performance in every aspect will follow.

@Dr. Kruse – I just wanted to follow-up on a comment that you made in your Evolution of the Leptin Rx. She asked if she should use a gift certificate to a sauna that she got. You said yes, but make sure that she CT after, as it would help her cold adapt faster. Is this because she is heated up from the sauna beforehand?

And if so, would it make sense for me to do some exercise prior to my CT sessions? If it matters, I do my CT baths first thing in the morning (4am). But I could take 5-10 minutes beforehand to do a bunch of pull-ups, push-ups and air squats if that would help me cold adapt faster. Thanks, your CT6 post got me recommitted to CT.

By chance, were you able to test your HDL and/or Calcium Plaque results prior to LR reset/CT protocol, and then testing them now. Those results could be very convincing of its effectiveness to the Cardiology community.

Dr. K, Ruby's comment #307 refers to an article about Juvenile Diabetes. I have a nephew diagnosed at age 10 with this. The article was confusing to me, so wondered if you recomment CT for this form of diabetes also. Thanks.

Supps include magnesium, vit D (levels are good though) zinc, copper, selenium. Doing a liver clease via naturopath, have had a few successes but nothing great. Gone low carb for a week but feel the same as I did on PHD. Lots of coconut oil/duck fat/ grassfed fatty meets and TONS of seafood. Been paleo for a couple years and dairy and me cannot exist at all with one another. Do the bone broth thing. I do have a lot of muscle weakness, used to be awesome at crossfit and then crashed a burned (had digestive troubles during). Diagonsed with hypothalamic amenorrhea a couple weeks ago (13 months without now, 24yrs old 114ish lbs when bloated). Low dhea but doc says its still within range (1.8) on scale of .8-13 (not sure of the units, im in Canada). Low progesterone, on prometrium, was also prescribed estrogen but am just taking the progesterone. Bloating is what really bothers me, really affects my mood and dont really feel like doing anything. Low white blood cells and waiting to see a hematologist. Any similar stories out there?

Thank you. How much is ramping it up? I just finished my second round of hcg and had planned on taking 2-4 grams. I will add in krill oil too. I am thin now, but planned on doing the reset with the paleo supplements and CT to see if I could get any better. I look forward to talking to you when your website is up. However, I love Nashville. Attended Vanderbilt for my undergraduate And masters.. Wanted a good excuse to visit. Thanks again for your time. I really appreciate all you are doing to help those of us in chronic pain.

@Dr. K – I'm waiting for her blood work in a couple of weeks for PH. Her doc is requesting it, I think more as a preventative and curiosity than any issues. Plus every chapter adds one more thing she does right.

I can remember, as a kid, Grandma always lowering the thermostat before bed, winter or summer. Once in a while I was hopeful that she had forgotten, but she would inevitably come back into the room, where I was still watching TV, and she would dutifully lower it. I'd have to get a blanket. Brrr!

She told me it helped her sleep. I loved her, but that was tough to take. Especially in winter! She lived to be 98 years old.

Dr Kruse, can you make a 'gift option' available for your cookbook? I'd like to give a couple subscriptions to my kids, so that they will receive the seasonal updates. I'd receive the receipt, but they would get a welcome email, etc.

@Coriainder This dose is for the gallbladder patients which far outnumber my osteoporosis patients. Those patients get different workups by me in clinic. If you look at my osteoporosis Rx it is pretty clear I like the higher doses.

Dr. Jack, knowing you have a "soft spot" for India, fetal development and Mother Nature's trump cards ;-), maybe you'd find this interesting: "As Barker sees it, malnutrition during a baby's development affects how a person's body behaves for a lifetime. An undernourished fetus prioritizes sugar for its growing brain. To make more glucose available in the blood, the fetus stores less of the energy in its muscles by making the muscles resistant to the effects of insulin.

What starts as a clever survival trick in the womb becomes a liability in later life. When food is freely available but the muscles can't store excess glucose, the blood floods with sugar and diabetes develops."http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-11-07/india-s-…
Kindest regards, as always.

@Coriander, There's 2 forms of Vitamin K2. MK-4 and MK-7. The MK-7 has a high half life, so a little lasts longer in the body in comparison (days for MK-7 vs hours for MK-4). You usually see K2 MK-7 in the MCG range, and MK-4 in the MG ranges. The Amazon link isn't clear which version it's got, but from the dose size, I'm assuming it's K2 MK-7.

@ LinD- I’ve heard Dr. Jack mention before that you can cold-adapt even if the water is a bit warmer than 50-55 degrees, it will just take you longer. So no, it’s not a waste of your time, and yes, there is a CT benefit with 62 degree water. Time to ramp up the ice production though! =)

It’s Rob Hamilton the ER doc from California. I would very much like with the opportunity to consult with you by phone or by Skype or whatever (at whatever your cash pay rate is) in an effort to help my father. Naturally I need help to but he needs it now more than I. I will be calling your office to see if I can set something up. If possible I’d love to talk or email you more detail — I can’t even imagine though how busy you are. Anyway, I’ll hope to get ahold of you, and no need to pass this through to the blog if you don’t want to.

@Jack – you mentioned on the Underground Wellness podcast about technology and its effect on our circadium cycle… is there a chance this is the cause of my 19 year old's issues (that started last year, actually) with 1) an involuntary body movement (this one is hard to describe), and 2) this 'shakey' eye thing that occurs. She had a sleep-deprived EEG last Spring, but it did not show anything indicative of epilepsy or otherwise. However, she texted me the other day the 'shaky-eye' thing started again. It lasted throughout a whole scene of a play (10 min or so).

Dr. K I'm still waiting for some labs. Our lab was just bought by Quest and I've had to go back 3 times due to their errors. I started the CT in the tub last week I did two days at a moderate temp and was so wired I couldn't sleep for 4 nights. I've looked through the posts and couldn't find a comment on this. Is it my thyroid revving up? TSH was 2.1. I'm waiting on the omega 6/3. The lab ordered it as Fatty Acid Profile Essential (c12-c22). Any suggestions to tide me over until I get these labs straightened out would be helpful. I'm supplementing DHEAS and Pregnenolone now. Thanks.

I've decided to practice my singing while I'm in the tub, especially hitting the high notes as I sit down!

@Jack or anyone w/ answer: Is there an optimal time for taking bitter melon, or just daily with other suppliments?

@ those with dry skin – I make a mix of macadamia nut oil, coconut oil and cocoa butter (3/5/2 ratio) melt em in the microwave to liquify, mix together in a glass jar, shake while it’s cooling. Apply liberally everywhere – it feels good and smells good. Also, STOP USING SOAP ON YOUR BODY! I swear! Your skin will protect itself. If you are a lady, this mix removes makup, too.

Another observation about CT – it might make you feel so happy you use phrases like “it’s on like donkey kong”. You’ve been warned.

Hi Dr. Jack, Listening to your podcast on UW right now. Sorry if this question has already been asked but can you explain how to do CT for someone who has never done it before? I hate the cold but I'm game!! Thanks!

@Jack: I saw a few comments up you mentioned K2 dose in relation to gallbladder patients. I personally haven't had issues with mine (yet), but I've been on a quest since I learned that the women in my family have almost all had theirs removed. Usually b/w the ages of mid 30's to late 40's. My mother, grandmother, and my aunts all have. All on my mothers side. I plan to keep mine and hope to prevent any issues. I've been doing your leptin reset and CT. Been paleo since August.

I'm wondering what things I should be watchful of.. anything in bloodwork, food, or supplements?

I just want to prevent this issue and don't want to go through the pain of stones or infection. I'm 28 yrs old right now. No problems so far. No one in my family has had any celiac diagnosed, but I think gluten may be a sensitivity that hasn't been diagnosed becuz gb issues seem to be related to gluten from what I have found online. But, I'm not sure what to pay attention to and what to do to prevent these issues if possible.

During your talk tonight with Sean you told one of the callers if LR with CT is not working then there is something else going on. Would parasitic infestation/overgrowth be one of those problems? Or what are some of the problems that would prevent LR with CT from working?

I have been doing CT since 2/16. I started with the tub right away up to my chest. Last weekend I was able to stand 35 degree weather without a jacket and in general felt I was cold adapting. This week I feel cold easily, it's much harder to sit in the cold tub, and it is taking me longer to warm up after a bath. Do you have any thoughts why this might be happening?

@Adriana You could do a GAPS diet version of the leptin rx for candida, or any other G.I overgrowth for that matter.

Dr. Kruse, I listened to your interview just now. Very informative, thank you! It's summer here now so I jumped in with the cold showers a few days ago. Don't mind them. I got some ice for face dunks..I wonder if it will make my face slimmer lol, that's where I retain a lot of fluid from toxicity.

My question is about the timing of eating on leptin rx.. I eat about 6AM. LOTS of fat and 50g protein. I am stuffed by the time I'm finished. But then I'm hungry again at about 12. I can stretch it until 4pm but I'm hungry.. Can I just eat 2 meals…one at 6AM and one at 1PMish and be done? I like eating 2x day.

Dr K, I had my first physical in 18 months today. Some of my labs are already back: glucose, 80, that's the lowest it's been in over 12 years! The Liver SGOT & SGPT, lower than they've been in over 12 years! Fatty liver disease gone? The only odd one was my potassium was somewhat low. My blood pressure was very high though, and now the doc want's to put me on something called Amlopidine… a calcium channel blocker. What do you know about that drug? I really don't want to take it, don't trust it at all. I did a CT about an hour before my appointment, would that effect my blood pressure? I'm afraid I won't be going back to my doc, she gave me a really hard time about the labs I wanted drawn, told me she really couldn't order every lab a patient wanted because that is what drives up health care costs. She did not get it, at all, and it was disappointing. sigh. I'm in the market for a new doc with fresh thinking and the ability to partner with me rather than dictate and write scripts.

Amazing detailed information from you, Dr. Kruse. I'm inspired from your passion and dedication, thank you for sharing. I'm struggling what to do to stop my body from completely breaking down.

I am eating meat,eggs and vegs with coconut oil for

bkft just meat/vegs for lunch and dinner. I've been eating organic, range grass fed foods for over 20 yrs! Couple times a week my body says CARB NOW! So I have something. 25 no more than 50gm, and usually a vegetable starch satisfies. I don't "desire" carbs. My thyroid is wacked my adrenals are exhausted!!! I take Armour and Isocort just to have energy to sit up and think. I was diagnosed with breast cancer in 08 and 150lbs. My weight continues to escalate,I'm 220. Until Dec of 2011, I had ultrasounds and lab work performed every 4 months to monitor. I continue the comprehensive thyroid panel labwork. Through diet and botanicals I am correcting my biological terrain to deactivate the cancer. Over these years of tests, all labwork reflected improved marks except the leptin level frustratingly remained elevated; although a few leptin test levels temporarily lowered. I sit around in shorts and a tshirt in my cold room, braving my chills. There are times I can be layered in clothes covered in blankets an still shiver.

Of all the supplements and mgs you recommended, I only had to add the PQQ to what I was already taking. I am beyond discourage and don't know what to try or do next. Your suggestions and recommendations will be most welcomed. Thank you.

@Jodi When you exercise like mad and you are eating carbs in fall and winter you are creating ROS or inflammation at your mitochondria. this sends a signal to your mitochondria to divide and it causes you to kill the cell and replace it with a stem cell……you keep doing that over and over again and you deplete your backs and you die earlier and get disease in your 50-60’s from organ disfunction

fascinating reading. You allude to a "barometric trap door" as well. Have you considered hypoxia? I don't mean clinical pathological hypoxia– rather lowered pa O2? There is a company called Hypoxico that sells sleeping tents for people prepping for climbs that also claims to be able to help/cure people of diabetes with these things…just a thought. question: do artic expeditions (sea level) shred weight like mountain climbing expeditions notoriously do?

@Jodi I think Dr. Kruse means if you're leptin resistant, doing intense exercises like Crossfit damage your cells. Being leptin resistant (brain and periphery), the body's cells i.e. muscle cells cannot recover/repair its oxidative damage (from heavy exercise) due to inappropriate energy partitioning and metabolism at a total body level. This leads to many cells eventually dying off via apoptosis/self-death and your stem cells from marrow etc. having to replace them. So as you crossfit/run marathons for a few decades while being leptin resistant…you eventually deplete stem cell supply and age/die faster. Dr. Kruse has a 3 part leptin series + a leptin prescription article that you can find under INDEX.

@Jack: Great! I’m excited to read it. Until then do you know where I could read what an “estrogen collector” is/means.. besides the obvious of collecting estrogen LOL?
I’ve never heard of that before some comments on this blog. But, other than people stating they are one I don’t know what that means. I’d like to read up on the symptoms and stuff like that about it.

@Jack: So, this means that I am most likely an estrogen collector since gb problems run in my family? Or I’m not an estrogen collector unless I have gallbladder disease/problems? Basically I’m asking if it starts with estrogen collection or the gallbladder problems cause the estrogen problems?

I have been on the reset 10 weeks and started CT 4 weeks ago. I feel mostly cold adapted but I still feel very fatigued. In addition, I am horribly hungry pretty much all day. It is one of the reasons I started the reset. I eat breakfast lunch and dinner and it's a struggle not to snack in between meals.

I have been following a Paleo diet for 15 years, my carbs come from veggies and pastured eggs, I eat grass fed meat only, and I stick to 20 to 25 grams of carbs a day. Some days I don't eat any vegetables at all. I don't eat dairy and I am not overweight but would like to change my body composition. I have gone up to 90 grams of protein for my BAB and still felt hungry and I have tried as little as 50 grams and then added animal fat and/or coconut oil until I couldn't eat anymore. Still I feel hungry.

Do you have any thoughts about what might be going on and what I can try or look into?

On fat burning and CT timing, does CT before sleep have a carryover effect? You mention that we burn fat in our sleep, so it would seem likely that the two would be complementary. Or is timing secondary? While I don't advocate 'fasted cardio' for fat loss, the idea of how we use timing to optimize the biochemistry / circadian effectiveness for certain purposes (such as fat loss) is of interest to me. Perhaps you will discuss this further in a later blog?

@Jack – Still having a lot of trouble with body temperature. My gym has a cold shower that is maintained at 51 degrees. Today I started my CT at 2:20 pm after hving had a very large brunch at 11:30 a.m. My starting body temp was 97.7. I measured throughout my session. At 15 minutes I started a slight shiver, which became more pronounced at 20 minutes, when my temp was down to 96.5. I stayed in another 5 mintues and halted the session. Skin was pink and rather numb all over.

As is the case with most of my sessions, the shivering really starts once I'm done. My temp continued to drop after leaving the shower, bottoming out at 93.8. This was maybe 20 minutes after my session. As I write this one hour later I am still shivering and am very uncomfortable, despite having doen CT for about 10 days. Just took my temp and it's still only 93.9.

Am I doing something wrong? Is it dangerous for my temp to drop so low?

@Dr. Kruse – thanks for your response to my question exercise, but I still have a question. I guess I should have reworded it, is it beneficial to do some exercise prior to cold tub sessions? Does ‘warming up’ the body by doing some pull-ups just before CT help one cold adapt faster? The only reason that I think it might is because the muscles would be ‘pumped’ with fresh blood and be at slightly higher temp. Could be totally wrong, thanks.

@Mark no……if you want to push CT……and I would and am not recommending this……exercise during CT does some interesting things. That is all I will say. When you become CT adapted for 6-8 months that is when you can start some of the things me and Wil Hof are doing………not until then.

@The Kid i bet your vessels and you autophagy are not good……if you tested your DHEA it would suck……and this is why your adaptation is slow with CT. You need a good hack. i do not think you are as healthy as you think.

Hi Dr. Kruse,
I have been avidly pouring over your site material for the past few weeks. I am going to be a graduating undergrad in Cell and molecular Bio in May this year. I am looking to apply to medical school next year. I was wondering if you know of anyone at any medical schools doing research into the thermogenesis, melanocortin, leptin, circadian link that you are describing. I definitely want to apply to a school where there is such research potentially going on or possible. I even have little over a whole year until I enter medical school so I could even possibly assist in a research lab somewhere regarding this front also. This stuff is absolutely my interest. Right now I am a totipotent “doctor cell”, if you will, and I think I can do a lot of good in the future with dedication and a little outside guidance in the optimal direction. My future goal is to become a leader in the field of international medicine and perhaps creatively apply these new research implications discussed here at that level. I am a longtime strict paleo eater with an open mind.
Thank you,
Ray F

@Ray Johns Hopkins…….Patricia Kane’s work on the lipid layers of cell membranes in neuro-degeneration is seminal to this theory. She has a 30 ft view of the 30000 ft view I gave you in the CT series……and I am not close to done yet. Until you see why Evolution did this you wont realize how important these things are to our daily biology.

@Jack – I absolutely need a good hack; and I absolutely don’t think I’m healthy. I’ve literally felt unwell for years. I cannot begin to explain what its like to feel unwell day in and day out for years. It grinds on you both physically and psychologically. So I absolutely accept that there is a whole lot wrong “under the hood.”

But I just need some clarity on what I’m doing wrong. Should my CT sessions be shorter in duration? Should my diet be more dialed in (I’m doing the BAB and low carbing it already). And what do you mean by my vessels not being good, and is there something I should do specifically to address that?

@Ric not a fan. body needs time to adapt as does brain……the brain is the temp receptor……..do you think the climate we face sees swings like these normally? Nope, so that means our biology wont react well to it.

Thank you. I’ll stick to the plan. The cold tubs (~47F) combined with a couple bags of ice on my torso are going great. I even gave up coffee! I’m using a long-sleeved compression shirt and compression shorts for now. Once I can stick my feet in and feel good, I’ll stop using the compression gear. But for now I think it helps numb up my skin quicker. For the past two days, I was able to do 45 minutes in the tub with the ice bags. I shiver near the end and a little after I get out, but it’s not bad. I’m looking forward to getting adapted so that I don’t shiver at all. Hopefully by then I’ll be ripped too. Separately, today I woke up on my own at 0355, five minutes before my alarm. Granted I’m asleep before 9:30 on most nights, but still I’d love to automatically wake up before 4 everyday. I’m planning on doing longer CT sessions this weekend, probably around 90-120 minutes, in an effort to speed up the adaption. I’m curious to see how that goes. Thanks again.

I also wanted to mention that my longer-term plan is to start swimming in my parents pool (they live close) once it opens at the end of May. By then I should be cold-adapted and could substitute a few baths a week for swimming sessions. The pool should be around 70F by then, which when combined with swimming should provide some good CT.

Just finished listening to Sean’s radio show recording – Awesome.
(Being 9000 miles away, I am supposed to be 12 hours ahead but end up behind)

Dr Kruse. Your ability to write such detailed posts, then answer every question on your own blog, contributing on Paleohacks and on MDA, Doing your difficult work as a Neuro-Surgeon, have a family life with children and everything else in just 24 hours per day – should silence every skeptic and every condescending critic (which are aplenty) about the super human ability that CT can confer – especially in view of where you are coming from – 300+ pounds a few years ago.

It is a pleasure to hear you on a Podcast – I hope we can have more and more of those.

@TheKid – just wanted to say “you’re not alone.” Some days I’m not sure which is worse – the physical or psychological pain/challenges. Most weeks are nothing short of an emotional roller coaster for me. One good day, followed by two bad. A major “high” when I figure something out followed by an even worse low when I realize I have no idea how to fix it and can’t find a single practitioner with any answers.

I am also struggling with the cold adaptation. I’ve started to take it much slower lately and hope that my body just needs a bit more time to adjust. My temps drop very low after the baths too, so I’ve gone back to the face dunks and ice packs for now. Hoping I’m still getting some benefit.

Have had 7 cold baths in 2 weeks and spot-iced on off days. When I put a cold pack on my neck directly over the thyroid gland, within minutes I get sinus drainage down the back of my throat that lasts hours. HOURS. It happens even when I don’t feel stuffed up. This has happened 5 out of 5 times and is the only time I get drainage like this. Spot icing and full baths do not produce these results. It’s interesting to me that ice on the neck/thyroid makes this happen and for it to last so long.

What is going on and where is this stuff coming from? Does CT offer a super-workout for the lymphatic system? Anyone else experience this too?

I have been doing CT for about a week, but did my first bath with bag of ice on my torso last night. I did 20 minutes. Water temperature was 52 degrees, and I moved the bag of ice from my abdomen to my neck. I was pretty cold the rest of the night but I wore my robe instead of being uncomfortable for the whole night. Is it ok to try to warm up? I also had a cup of yerba mate tea but just warm, not hot. I get very hot during the night and kick off my blankets. Good sign, right? This was already happening while doing the Leptin reset. I had some leg cramps last night, which I don’t normally get at all. Something I can take for that? I also had a headache, loose bowels, and some serious emotions going on (as in crying a lot). Could also be TOM, but could CT make me more emotional? Very interesting protocol. Really hoping for the fat loss to begin.

@Jodi If you eat appropriate to the circadian cycles you can cross fit. but to be clear……when your cold adapted exercise is not needed much. I have done very little int he last three months and I am rock hard because of the cold……..cold increases growth hormone and testosterone secretion in humans…….

@Bridgette – Thank you for the comment. It’s good to know one is not alone. I’m like a regular at my local hosptial. I’ve seen every doctor they have in that place, and not nary a one of them has anything more than a pill or a procedure that just treats symptoms and fails to actually cure me. In 2012, I’m all about curing myself. And if I have to sit in an ice bath each day and sleep in a meat locker each night, so be it.

But like most other things in life, everything depends on personal circumstances. And apparently I don’t tolerate the cold all that well yet. I don’t know what I’m doing wrong, but I hope to iron this out so that I can see some of the benefits Dr. Jack has talked about.

Since you’re having problems, I’d love any tips you might have. Thanks.

@TheKid – I’m not sure I have any tips to offer. If anything, my suggestion would just be to take things a bit slower. I’m so desperate for healing that I find myself jumping in to every healing possibility headfirst and I tend to push myself a bit too far.

I’m finally learning to listen to my body and take things at a much more gradual pace. I did one face dunk and then moved right to the baths – bad idea for me! So, like I said above I have now gone back to face dunks and ice packs. I plan to do 2 face dunks (one in the AM and one in the PM) for 2 weeks along with ice packs once a day.

After 2 weeks I’ll attempt the baths again. After all, Dr. K’s protocol does say to start with the face dunk. I know many people went straight to the baths, but that’s not what he said to do and I’m trying to follow directions for once!

I have a question Dr K. Does one have to eat a ketogenic diet along with the cold therapy to help the adrenal glands recover from fatigue? Or will cold thermogenesis alone with a paleo diet with some carbs still be effective? If you could please take a minute to address this I would greatly appreciate it as I can’t seem to figure this out even though I’m sure it’s right in front of me. Thank you so much sir!

I’m also interested in your answer to Ren’s question (#331) about CT and Lyme, since the Lyme docs say that HEAT (esp. far infrared saunas) is the Rx for Lyme. I know that you think that CT is the way to go for pretty much all neolithic disease, but could you comment on Lyme specifically?

@Jodi & @Daniel. I would love to see Dr. K devote a blog just to exercise. The post on Why Oprah is still fat is some help. Yes you are killing off your stem cells if you work out intensely when LR. But note 2 things – Dr. K is no longer LR and he doesn’t Crossfit. Rather he is staying cold adapted year round (I think) and hasn’t been very specific about his exercise protocol – other than one has to guess that he swims some in his lake.

The other point is every clinical note he has made about the labs of a crossfitter has always been bad – even if they are young.

this too is where I am stuck in all of this. Pretty sure I am coming out of LR to LS, trying the CT and am damn freaking scared to move a muscle. I originally started the L Rx thinking I would heal myself back and then be able to exercise as I wished (back in my box), but I’m not getting that feeling from reading the blog/comments.

Not asking to run marathons, but I would love to be able to run 3mi whenever I feel like it, and shake it up a bit with some CF metcons and some Oly lifts.

Dr K also speaks to the methods of Erwan LeCorre, but from what I can tell, that is a train the trainer type environment. The beauty of crossfit is that someone else is programming (for better or worse) and you just get in the box and get it done. MovNat is definitely going to require a more independent self starter to be successful.

@cgk You would not……Cold adapted people need very little exercise to maintain rock hard bodies. I think exercise is way over rated…..but warm adapted mammals think they need it because of vanity……when they begin to realize it is costing them stem cells we’ll see how they fell then.

@MM – I don’t have Lyme, so no real info for you, but I just finished listening to Dr. Kruse’s talk on the Underground Wellness show from last night. Towards the end of the show a caller asked about Lyme and he gave some info on it – you might want to give it a listen.

@cgk- have you checked out the Primal Blueprint Fitness download (it’s free). I think Mark Sisson has a really reasonable approach to exercise that won’t result in overtraining and short telomeres. It’s all about the minimum effective does principle. It seems to work well for keeping him in good shape:)

@Bridgette I just had an 83 yr old woman come in with complete recovery of her leg pain and knee extension with 6 weeks of CT protocol. She was scheduled for a knee replacement with her orthopod and cancelled it. That is the power of cold.

I started the face dunks in 55 degree water about a week ago. My husband decided to join me after I told him some about it (I didn’t ask him to do it, he just decided he wanted to see what it was about). We are using a snorkel thing so we can stay under the water without having to come up for a breath. I feel like a total light-weight listening to all of you sitting in an ice-cold bath for 20+ minutes! I have only been able to stay under a little over a minute. My husband has been able to do over 2 minutes though.

I’d be interested in knowing more about the experiences of those who have done the face dunk.

I also wanted to let Dr. Kruse know that I really enjoyed listening to you on the podcast last night! I hope we’re able to hear you speak more soon. It was very informative. My husband was listening too and this made him really excited about cold adaptation! It’s going to be fun to cold adapt with him, but I can already tell he’s going to be way better at it than me.

A person lives in a country on the equator, He is perpetually in equinox, there are no solstices on the equator. So, here is what he does.

1. He gets some testing
2. Based upon his condition he begins a suitable CT protocol.
3. Simultaneously begins a Leptin reset. (or step (2) comes after step (3) )
4. Decides randomly that Nov through Jan will be designated winter.
5. During the designated winter he eats a ketogenic diet.
6. Jan through March he weans off his ketogenic diet
7. MArch through September he celebrates summer eats local whatever available.
8. September through Nov he prepares for onset of winter and slowly goes ketogenic.
9. goes back to step (5)
10. Practices his CT protocol all year
11. Does quaterly testing.

My infrared thermo gun came in today, now I can know for sure how cold my skin is getting, I’m one of those people who need to see the data before I really believe what is happening. I’m sitting wrapped in ice sheets held to my skin with a cotton garment I design to hold it tightly to my skin, better then trying to juggle ice packs that keep slipping

I’ve noticed the fat on my arms are looking strange, it’s like there is something dividing it, like an deep hollow that has no fat, egads I hope I don’t end up looking lumpy I’m going to sew up some upper arm ice bands to see if that will help, maybe the part that is hollow looking has been touching the ice sheets and I haven’t noticed? I started back on the leptin rx since I didn’t think I was ready for the post, thought I was but I’m still not losing much even with the ct, now that I have my gun I’ll know for sure what the tub temp is and will keep adding ice as needed. Loved your interviews Dr K. I think you really need to start podcasting, I find you so easy to listen to and some how it makes more sense then when I’m reading it, always thought I was a visual learner more then an audio one but who knows, can always change eh

Just thought I’d let those who haven’t ordered Dr. K’s cookbook yet know that it is sooo worth it! I made the Herb Roasted Lamb last night and had leftovers for breakfast this morning. YUM! My kids even ate it and they’re usually not big fans of lamb.

@Jack – Now that it is established (at least in my mind and yours) what optimal is, what do you suggest that young parents do with their new-born children. How and when should infants/toddlers be introduced to CT so that they begin their life as super-kids.

@Resurg…….this is where CT is headed…….epigenetics is the key. What controls it? Factor X. That is going to be in the book. I will however blog about how epigenetics is controlled in our cell membranes. go re read my post on transgenerational epigenetics now. You will see the best way to help your kids is to understand how their epigenetics has been effected. I think a childs 06/3 ration and DHEA levels are very insightful but few MD’s check because they do not understand this biology yet. I think that will change in the next 20 yrs. This is how the new paleo healthcare paradigm will lead our species……but it will be a grass roots effort. I expect no help from the modern version of healthcare. My version is creative destruction and complete evolution. that is a story for AHS 2012.

Thanks for sharing the info about your 83-year old patient w/ knee troubles. My husband has always had problems with his knees. Even at 35 years old, the docs keep telling him it’s just “growing pains!” Maybe this story will help me get him on board with CT!!

I’d also like to know if there is anything we can/should be doing with our kids so they can be optimal. I have a 3 year old, 7 year old, and twin 9 month olds. I’ve severely limited carbs in the house since the beginning of the year, but they do get occasional fruit, popcorn, nuts, and sweet potatoes. They also get other things out of the house when with friends or family (candy, sugary treats, pizza, fast food). I’ve tried to be diligent in cutting back in the house as much as I can.

My 7 year old, who up until a year ago was rail thin, is starting to get chubby. I really don’t want him to have to struggle as I have my whole life.

Dr. K – Say a person has an age appropriate telomere length and is otherwise healthy except for a missing or underactive thyroid when warm adapted. Is warm adapting in the summer and medicating non-optimal? Also, In the winter do you expect clinicians will see high TSH and low Free T3 panels even though the don’t affect the biology when cold adapted?

@Jay that person does not exist. I have looked for one in 6.5 yrs. Find me that person and I will answer it. If you are warm adapted and above ten yrs old your telomeres will shock you period………I have four kids in my area who have evidence of carotid disease and heart disease as teenagers………think about that when you pop on your iphone or eat a safe starch or follow a paleo 2.0 template that is based upon a “feeling”

HI, this is my first comment on your blog even though i have been following from the first day on. Some history and stats:
I am a woman, 32, 132 lbs, 5`6,5`tall with less than 15% fat. I have MS that i have cured without medication. I lift, i eat mainly ketogenic paleo. no safe starches for my logic. These are my questions:
I know im not leptin resistant. i sleep well, have energy. have lots of muscle. i have come to use intermittent fasting as it simply fits my lifestyle – do you think IF can be detrimental to one that is leptinsensitive? I do most of my lifting fasted. have done so for years. I am very used to taking cold showers. usually twice a day for 10 min at a time. I sleep in 16-18 degrees celsius – have done so for years. i have no opportunity whatsoever to do immersion. I live in Finland where sauna is a daily thing too. sauna interspersed with cold showers after lifting is something i do many times in a week also. I have read sauna increases mTOR. Can effects in extreme heat be akin to the efects on mTOR in freezing cold?

@Eva I have a blog on IFing and LS. read it. I like IFing when done correctly. If you’re in Finland just add CT to your routine and you will love it You need to just make sure your 06/3 is 4:1 to get optimal results.

Oh my! I experimented last night and easily did 10 ‘girlie’ pushups–which I haven’t done (but one time before starting CT) in at least eight or nine months–maybe longer. While it was an effort that one time before CT, last night it was not hard at all. SO, I decided to do it today, too, and again no problem. Ok, let’s do the full push up—so I did ten with no problem. Then, what the heck, I just did another 20 full push ups and felt I should stop just because I know I haven’t worked out like this in a v-e-r-y long time. My husband wants to call me Ice Princess now.

Love CT, having no trouble adapting and I haven’t even done an ice bath. I do ice packs on my belly and back of my neck in the evening and cold showers in the morning. I have been doing this for five days and I am already radiating heat most of the day. People have noticed, I have had several people tell me that I look like I have been tanning and when standing close to me can feel my warmth. I am 12% body fat and expect this protocol to really shred me down to single digits. I have been following my own version of the leptin reset for 12 weeks. Keep the info coming Doc. I learn something new every time I re-read your posts….

Hi ChimpChick, I think since CT causes some big hormonal changes, yes, it could affect your period. Also, Dr. K mentioned headaches may be caused by excess Omega 6 in the tissues. I had one recently, my first headache in about a year. I took some extra krill oil for it.

Dr. K
Found it! Thank you! There is VOLUMES of info to navigate on this site.
I’ve error’d not clicking on the ” previous entry ” tabs, is why I missed the CT Protocol. OMG hours more of reading and REreading till I turn ” geek “.

Thanks Jason. I am such a wimp! I’ve always been telling my wife “I could never be a navy Seal”, because I hate being wet and cold (let alone sandy). Getting in a cold bath is torture. I can just about do cold showers but with much shouting and screaming. I used to do a Russian-style “douse” with a bucket of cold water, but Her Indoors made me stop because the accompanying scream was disturbing the neighbours But I CAN do ice packs! Like you, my bodyfat is around 10% already (runner), so that’s my excuse.
Also getting used to wearing fewer clothes in general.

@LinD totally true too……exercise is not a mandatory thing……its OK to do but when your doing CT you will be shocked at your shredding and increased muscle and power from the GH and T increases naturally. Our brain is a giant pharmacy just waiting to help us if we signal it correctly.

@Simon M. I attribute my quick acclimation to the Leptin reset. I believe it primed my hormones for the cold. I was 27% body fat back in Oct 2011. I have lost upwards of 35 pounds and according to my calculations it has mostly been fat weight with about 5 pounds of muscle loss (210 down to 175) I am weighting on a cold water circulating machine with blanket I bought on Ebay for 40 bucks to start doing that. I have a very shallow tub so it makes baths not effective.

Dr K – Are you familiar at all with Atlas chiropractic techniques? It was recommended to me by a dentist for treating a malocclusion problem, but I’m now reading some negative things about this online. Any opinions?

So i went out to lie in my private snowfield naked and I’m lying on my back in the snow for about ten minutes and I hear a bird shreiking. I look up and the turkey buzzards are circling over my apparently dead body. I yelled “I’m not dead” and then started cracking up thinking about Monty Python “I’m not dead yet” They got the message and moved on.

I wouldn’t worry too much. I noticed my fat becoming like ‘fall off the bone’ consistency. I think that’s just the ‘getting ready to melt’ part. I think I’ve dropped 5 lbs in one week! (Not heavy to start with). I went to visit my parents and my mother was like “Woah…you lost weight!” I was surprised b/c I didn’t feel like I did.

p.s. I upped my seafood intake—YAY! It’s like I have a craving for it. I also had some nuts (cashews) and they were gross/addicting. They had frigging soy crap etc. I had the runs the next day…:S Yeeeee fun!

Re: CO, I think for OPTIMAL it’s best to give it up during winter months (but notice how we’re headed into Spring…yay). I feel like in a warm adapted environment (that’s even if in winter, but bundle up etc. and exercise, CO really gives a boost for heart efficiency/endurance. It all makes sense.

O, another thing: I think for cold adapted salt should be lowered a bit. I can feel a difference if I have too much salt (as I previously had a lot of salt w/ no problems). It’s seems too much in cold adapted even with keto-paleo. (B/c usually w/ keto you want to up salt/sodium intake due to more loss w/o insulin’s effects). I think in hot weather…YES use lots of salt. Last summer I noticed a HUGE increase in my endurance in karate (sadly don’t do this atm…but really is it that sad if Dr. K says not too much exercise? lol). The salt + CO were huge helpers in good performance for warm adapted activities. See Vim Hoff and his run in the heat (he didn’t drink water and salt…but he knows that’s good for extreme heat).

Everyone here: Dr. K is all about telomeres and ‘life extension’/ living long life optimally. It’s important to realize that. He’s not looking to run marathons etc. but the nifty thing is, that his advice helps those people that DO want to push the limits of human athleticism. It’s like using these techniques helps in both situations (just that he sees if you want to go max performance to realize that it comes at a cost to stem cells etc.)

Someone else stated this or alluded to it…Doing the Leptin Rx first before knowing/doing CT is to prime the hormones for the CT. It makes perfect sense and Jack really knows what he’s talking about. He even wanted to make sure there were no negative side effects too before letting the public know about it. While these methods have been around for centuries, it’s Dr. K that ties everything together in an easy package. It’s so comprehensive and FREE! He doesn’t charge anything!!! If he wants to sell cook books etc. AFTER he already gave all this info. then that makes me want to buy them (even if I don’t even need it b/c I have a good imagination for cooking). It’s a good strategy that is quite a relief for today’s market. I still get the sense that he actually CARES first and foremost though. I don’t think he’s all about gimmicks and products.

Also, I like how he teaches everyone to ‘be their own dr.’. That is the most important lesson to learn.

@Gladina This is true. I want everyone to question everything they believe based upon this new info…….then you can educate yourself because most healthcare practitioners do not know this either. There are so many examples of this pathways peeking through to our consciousness in high performance athletes soon people will find it is not a mystery why they can function like this…….it is a choice for us all to make. Optimal or Suboptimal

I’m 28 health oriented and want to get telemere testing but would the results give me an accurate assessment of where I line up among my peers. Concerns would be that there May not be enough data On people my age and that the data that they would have would be from subjects who were sent for testing because they were really in poor health. I know there are benefits to just using your number as a reference tool but would it be a true measure to see if I’m truely a rockstar compared to my peers.

@Jon yes there is a concern with that……..but here is the bigger issue…….how I use it to do a bio hack does not really matter……why? I just am using it as a rough guide to your previous beliefs and decisions and behaviors…….this makes the person immediately aware that they must begin to question everything……..no one in paleo is. They think the diet is enough and Xfitting is fine and as long as their exterior is hot they are cool……..Wrong belief. And it might be deadly. This is why Paleo 2.0 must be questioned. The Paleo 1.0 and 2.0 folks do not want to consider this…….and hence the kick back. I am telling you all in the community there is a way to check this for yourself………regardless of the venom they spew…….i dont want you to believe me…….or them. I want you test who is right. Then you decide. I am quite confident in my findings. None of them even knew this possibility existed a week ago. It is not in the bio chem books because prior to one week ago no one realized mammals have a warm and cold biochemistry. This changes everything once you understand it. If you want to stay warm adapted you can and then you follow their advice. But do not think for a minute that the ancient pathways benefits will ever be your destiny. Because that is not going to happen…….Mother Nature says it, not me.

Is there one place that has the protocol for CT. From what I can read I should bathe in ice water, but not sure of how often or for how long. Should this be done gradually or just jump in? I have sarcoidosis which manifests itself in shortness of breath and joint pains. The Paleo diet works wonders but would like to do more.

so I as trying t figure out exactly how the liver makes fats and I can’t seem to get a direct hit on google. The liver doesn’t make fat from fat…how does it? Sugars? the liver just splits fat, that’s not making it, right?

Thank you so much for your reply. Last question-Keto +CT for adrenal recovery or does it need to be Keto + CT + calorie restriction?

I am already underweight and have lost 5 lbs since starting the CT but I’m not in a position to lose weight. I’m already at around 8% bodyfat and don’t want to lose more weight if possible but if that’s whats necessary for adrenal recovery then I’ll sacrifice more weight loss. As always thank you so much Dr K!

@Ben CT plus keto means you wont and cant eat more…….this is a natural way to calorie restrict. CRON is not natural…….that is why it does not work well as a long term strategy in mammals. It is why VLC and paleo dieting alone also have limitations……..all parts of the pathway must coincide with one another for its power to be unleashed.

Hi Jack, Two questions:
* I use 100mg of trazodone (a serotinon modulator) to help me sleep. I might be able to learn to sleep without it. Could this drug negatively affect my leptin reset or cold adaptation?

* Could supplementing with yohimbine help to speed up the uncoupling of metabolism from fat burning?

@Rojo trazadone screws with prolactin secretion so it can affect DHEA GH and Testosterone……..CT helps. You may over time find a need to wean it because your sleep improves dramatically with CT as you increase it.

@Kami yes all hormones improve. Time is the only variable. Women do quite well clinically with this……especially the older post menopausal ones. But sadly they are the ones hardest to convert to trying.

Re-reading CT Protocol again. This is puzzling to me: The higher your omega 3 content the better you will adapt to the cold (check). The higher protein/fat intake you have the slower you will adapt to cold (???? is this a typo..should it be faster not slower). The more carbs in your diet (LR) the easier you will find it to adapt to cold (this is strange too…I thought it would be harder to adapt on a non-paleo, SAD). Can anyone clarify for me? Thanks so much.

I had my first cold bath with ice in a ziploc bag last night after protein/fat dinner. I moved the ice pack back and forth from my abdomen area to my neck (hoping to hit thyroid area). Total time was 20 minutes. Water was 52 degrees. I don’t know my skin temp. I forgot to check it and don’t really know if the infrared arterial thermo. even works for this. Anyway, today starting early afternoon I noticed just under my chin, near my neck, I am swollen and red and it hurts and is itchy at the same time. I’m thinking this has got to be CT, right? What is going on? It’s a little scary.

Cooling vest review … After reviewing a number of websites w/ cooling vests, I ordered the RPCM Cool Vest. http://coolvest.com The vest was shipped same day I ordered it and received it 2 days later. Overall, I am happy w/ the vest. The cool/gel packs take longer than the stated 2 hours to completely freeze … overnight in the freezer worked fine. Today I wore the vest for 3 hours. It provided a pleasant cool sensation but never seemed cold. Wearing a shirt below the vest was needed for me to prevent chafe issues on my skin. I can see the vest being valuable in helping me adopt the attitude of “embrace the cold”. However, I don’t see this vest as a replacement for CT; my skin never got cool enough.

I have also tried ‘Ice-Brix’ under a compression shirt. This seems to come much closer to CT. I wear a 2nd t-shirt below the Ice-Brix and compression shirt. My skin becomes very cool to somewhat cold in less than 5 minutes. 60 minutes is my normal session, and the Ice-Brix have barely melted. Ice-Brix are normally used for keeping shipments cold for several days. I found the best deal on Ice-Brix at Staples.com. Best deal I say since shipping is almost same cost as the product, but I used the free shipping option to my local Staples store (although that does take longer). In summary, either of these methods are no replacement for CT in the tub … off to the tub I go.

Ok, now it looks like I have hives, which I’ve never had before in my life so I’m not sure, but they are on my abdomen and chest, and below my chin so all the areas where I had put the ice in the ziplock bag. Very weird. It’s getting worse and it’s been a long time since I took the bath, almost 24 hours now since my ice bath last night.

Dr. K, you made a blog reference to body temp being @ 98.6 What about if you’re not. Been well over a decade my oral temp was 98.6.
Does it matter my temp runs 97 and lower in regards to resetting Leptin,the CT protocol, choices and rate of progress/success? My apologies if I’ve missed seeing a previous explanation in your blogs or the comment forums.

Thanks JC, just looked at that again. Dr. K, I don’t understand what I did wrong. I have been face dunking for a week and some cold showers, too, and had no problems with them and thought I should move on. I did the cold water bath, too, for 15 minutes on Wed. and no problem with that. Last night, for the first time I added ice that was in a bag on top of the cold compression shirt and I moved it to my neck area and back and forth. The hives were caused by the ice I suppose. How is this different from the protocol? I just read it again and it says to do the ice bags on the shirt before doing the bath. Well, I did the bath alone and showers alone and they were fine. It’s when I added the ice last night. Why would it take so long to develop hives, almost 24 hours later? My skin looked fine last night.

Forgot to add t hat I have slowly worked my way up from just a couple of minutes in cold showers to 7-10 minutes cold showers, to a cold bath 15 minutes and then moved to last night’s cold bath 20 minutes.

@Conan yes…….most paleo’s are. If you read my vitamin D blog closely i mention Vitamin D binding protein as our bank acct for winter. it takes a 60 ng or higher to activate it by Sept 15……most dont get there. If you are using circadian CT as I do after that you do not need any D3………but most people are not me. I have been doing this longer than anyone I know. For the new they need to pay attn to their D levels March 15 to Sept 15 to get optimal in the continental USA. The further north you go the smaller your vitamin D window is because your temp window is longer by the SCN……..this si why the cancer rates and AI rates are highest in these areas because 99.9% of these people are eating a warm adapted diet and remain warm adapted when their temp should be helping them……..its a mismatch. this is why cancer rates are so high in northern UK. That is where the steepness of the Vit D and temp SCN cycles are narrowest and why I think the Neanderthals died out……..we rarely find any of their remain above this latitude too……….The theory fits perfectly.

@ AC on constipation: Make sure your eating fermented foods everyday or taking probiotics(L. Acidophilus only to start). Also you might have low stomach acid levels, make sure you rule that out as well. Check out my blog for more info on all of the above.

@ Clabbergirl – I’ve been doing ice packs front and back for 5 days now usually an 1 to 1.5hr. My sinus’s have been going nuts once I started this. My nose won’t stop running and I’m sneezing all the time. I haven’t put the packs on my neck yet. But I can feel your pain, hope it stops soon.

@ Jack – Did face baths 2 days several minutes, 5 days of ice packs started at 30minutes up to 2hrs front and back. Once I started the ice packs my sinuses have been going crazy and acne is flared out of control on my face… is this a detox you’ve seen before? Any ideas to help it?

@Steven the runny nose is from all the toxins draining into the lymphatics……this is where the emptied fat goes……and it gets into the thorcic duct and then the liver takes it…….but you may want to up B vitamins for detox clearance with NAC, milk thistle, turmeric, resveratrol etc……….I used IV glutathione when I had this…….worked like a charm……..but it costs and I put in my own IV. Messy but cheap…….I am a tool but I am born bio hacker because as a surgeon I know what I am doing…….this is not for the home game player.

OK, so I’ve done maybe 6 cold baths the last 2 weeks. 2 days ago I added 10 pounds of ice to the tub. Didn’t notice much difference. Today, I bought one of those big ice blocks, and after sat it on my abdomen for my 45 minutes ice bath.

2 things surprised me:
1) It was actually easier to have the ice on me and feel comfortable because I went NUMB
2) For hours afterwards, it felt like I had just spent the last week doing crunches cause my abs felt SORE. Weird…

Anyways, I’m thinking of doing another bath tonight. Two a day anyone?

@ James last Sat I did 5.5 hours packed in ice………Today I have done two sessions 15 minutes in lake cut short by white skin……and now 1.5 hours in 40 degrees on the deck nude in air as I answer you all in the dark

@Steven FWIW, when I started CT I had 3 days of ringing in my ears, couldn’t valsalva (sp) and thought I was going crazy. It wasn’t hydration, I hadn’t changed my supplements and I didn’t think I was sick. Then it started draining… Thank goodness and it doesn’t seem to be into my chest and causing a cold. And so far I’ve resisted the temptation to reach for any loratidine, even though at first I thought it was spring allergies coming on… Still draining… hopefully it will subside in a few weeks.

@ Jack – 47 with amennorhea since Sept despite NFP charts that show perfect LH surges and temp elevations. Started Leptin Rx 31 Jan and CT 15 Feb. Voila! Libido is back, PMS/PMDD way down and cycle length appears to be back to 28 instead of the 25 that had been going on the past few years. Not sure who thanks you more… me who can stop wondering if I’m expecting or my husband who is enjoying having a sane wife again!

Found this at the link for cold uticaria, where it’s said that the condition could be inherited. My mom had this problem when she was alive and had to have the IV line warmed. Does this mean I can’t do cold thermogenesis anymore? I am beyond disappointed. I really had myself set on doing this and becoming optimal. Cold/Cool IV Lines: While in the hospital, inserting IV lines that have been refrigerated or are cool into individuals who are allergic to cold temperature can/may result in pain within the limb the IV is placed and a line of hives may appear within a radius of 6-8 inches from the IV site in the pattern of a line going up the limb. Notify your doctor/nurse of your condition so they will be able to use a machine which warms IV lines before they enter your body.
I have been paleo and keto for a long time, a few years. I don’t even use olive oil, only butter and coconut oil. I eat grass-fed beef primarily, followed by salmon, and some chicken (not that fond of it). How could I possibly have a high 06 level? Just don’t get this either.

@CW its not inherited…….Its epigenetics like everything else. You can do it…….just need to change the diet a bit and retry it…….get your 06/3 ratio checked because that or glycation is the issue in your cell membranes…….those are the people who cant tolerate CT.

“Women do quite well clinically with this……especially the older post menopausal ones.” This is one older post menopausal that isn’t scared to try it
Did my first full immersion ice bath today with 22lbs of ice, the gun said it was measuring 51 – 55*F so it was right on target. I noticed with the ice that I became numb and apparently when I had a cold bath without the ice I wasn’t really numb, the numbness made it easier to stay in the ice water. Was surprised by that actually.

By the way, checked my blood sugar like I usually do an hour or so after dinner and it was down 10 points then usual. Interesting since it was so much better with the full immersion with ice.

@Dr K, looking forward to Paleo Fx, and no I seriously doubt we would get sick of listening to you.

Also been eating much more seafood, probably 75% of my meals are some kind of seafood or other.

@Gladina, thanks for the input, always a worry when things start looking lumpy, thankfully I have a husband who isn’t put off by any such things

@Eleanor……ironically, I am writing the open speech for Paleo fx tonight in total isolation…….and darkness……….This is going to be tougher than I thought. Writing this is in utter solitude is making me descend into the cold abyss of my unconscious. This is a tough out tonight………

Thanks, Dr. Kruse. Not diabetes, just used to eat a lot of sugar and wasn’t always careful about sun protection. I feel that it has affected the skin on my face–large pores; some loss of elasticity. Although I am seeing improvement since upping Omega 3s and limiting Omega 6s (still waiting on lab results), I am wondering if face dunks are the best way to begin CT for me, since you mentioned that people with glycation and/or high O6/O3 ratios may be intolerant of CT.

I have taking krill oil for years, Dr. Kruse….1,000 mg per day. Should I increase this even more to increase O3 and still be able to do the CT? I also take cod liver oil, 1 T per day until I can get more sunlight here in NY.
I’ll eat more seafood but I still enjoy my grass-fed beef the most. And it has O3, or is said to have plenty, as much as salmon I have read.
I’m going to the dr. March 29. Do I just request my o6/o3 levels be tested? Is it just simple blood test that I need to add on to my huge list? Glad to hear I can still do the cold but this is going to slow me down big time until I get tested and then, retested. And I thought I was doing so well.
@Eleanor, I felt the same as you about adding the ice to the bath…I preferred it because it made me numb. It was easier than the cold shower, too, because I could read a magazine to pass the time and not have to be thinking about the cold as much. I guess my mistake was adding the ice…should have just stuck with the cold water for awhile. Cold uticaria is no joke…This is very uncomfortable and I don’t think I’ll be able to sleep tonight.

Just a general Q: anybody here not using exercise as a means of loseing weight, correcting other problems or building muscles but just exercising for the pleasure of it? Would love to swap notes. I do not need to lose weight but I do exercise (always outside, never in the gym) because it’s fun and helps me connect with nature. On the basis of what dr.Jack has said so far, I figure that the overriding principle is to stay in tune with Mother Nature (seasons, circadian rhythm etc) in whatever environment you find yourself in. That means, be active when you are meant to be active i.e. spring and summer on your season-appropriate diet and switch to the “semi-hibernation” slowdown mode in winter.
DR. JACK: re. Ric’s comment (460) and your answer (556) — wouldn’t going from heavily air-coned indoors out into tropical heat many times a day be the same as running in and out of
sauna in the middle of Finnish winter? This is re. my earlier question about cold adapting while living in the tropics. Thanks again for allowing us to tap into your brain power.

@ruby it would be if we were warm adapted creates from a gene stand point……we are not……infact our ancestors are all cold adapted like 99% of life on this planet……..and why this seems so foreign to you all is you do not understand the key factor yet…….FACTOR X. When you do I promise y’all will get it completely. That comes in the final chapter of the book.

@Coriander……I think type 1 is an epigenetic disease……..so yes I think it is possible but I think to fix type one you need CT plus IV cell membrane therapy to get your CM to a 4:1 ratio…….this is why Dr. Kane work works so well in neurodegeneration disorders……..diabetes is a forerunner for all of them.

@Jack – You know, you have answered something I have always wondered about: Why is it that animals in nature are such performance BEASTS? Honestly. Lions are some lazy creatures. They sleep upwards from 18 hours a day. They don’t lift, do WODs or MetCons or anything else for that matter. Sleep, walk around lazily,hunt, eat, bicker amongst one another and then repeat all that. So how is it they are such performance masters?

I have been asking myself for a long time, why can’t humans be the same. The answer, I guess, is that we CAN be the same. After all, lifting or doing some other exercise is meant to send specific messages to the body. But I liken that message to being hit over the head with a hammer. Wouldn’t it be so much better and easier if we could, perhaps, just send the body an email or whisper nicely to it and get the same reaction?

Less is more. I would very much like to have the “pumped” feeling from doing very little actual pumping. And I think I saw a glimpse of that last night. I had a horrid CT session and shivered badly and had a bad drop in core body temp, but about 8 hours later, I felt like I had just pumped at the gym. It wasn’t a big pump, but it was noticeable. I’m hoping that continues and improves with time.

@The Kid That was the email you just asked for that you sent to your hypothalamus. We are hardwired for ultimate fitness and survival just like a lion……but it has been hidden from us because our evolution was so fast and into a completely mismatched environment because of FACTOR X…….That is the point of the CT series……..Once you know this pathway is in us then you must begin to ask why. I got your,Why, and its coming in the last chapter of my book. And when hear it, it will make total scientific sense………then you can begin to understand why modern man faces so many diseases of aging that we do because of mismatches. I believe normal human survival can be 150-200 if we lived in the cold pathways.

Advice I suggested to another forum member hesitant to start CT: Good idea to get your O3 up. I bet Dr Kruse might say—your cold and pain tolerance won’t improve UNTIL you do CT. Kind of like which came first– chicken or the egg.

Doing CT its an incredibly brave and gutsy thing to do, I agree. Almost like jumping off a cliff, though I would not do that, or recommend it, but once you sit down in the cold water, you find it’s not nearly that bad after all. I figure if it doesn’t kill me, then it will make me stronger.

@Jack – I am wondering if you saw any improvements in eyesight? Is that something frequently happens? I’m asking because I’m thinking of doing LASIK and I wouldn’t want to go ahead with that if my eyesight is going to change as a result of getting healthier.

Could one be detoxing through their teeth? Now that I’m doing CT consistently I’m finding that I have a lot of tooth pain and am grinding my teeth at night, something I haven’t done since I was a teenager.

I recall this also happening when I first started the SCD diet and also when I took antifungals a few years back. What would cause this and any suggestions on managing it? Thanks!

@The Kid its inflammation……and explains why you are having Ct issues…….you need to nail down why. You really need to question everything about you to get the answer. A great biohack will get there but it is not going to be fast nor cheap…….but that is where your pot of gold will be found.

@Jack – When you say that my biohack won’t be fast, I get that. I’m in it for the long haul. But when you say it won’t be cheap, what do you mean? Where does the cost come in on this? Cause I thought it was basically just eating properly and CT, which isn’t all that terribly expensive. What am I looking at?

Ruby- I’m one of those people. I ride my bicycle for fun, transportation and sanity. I figure if I can sing along with my speakers, I’m not intense enough to cause any problems with the LR. If it causes slower weight loss, that’s ok, it’s worth it for how much happiness it adds.

That said, it’s kind of nice to have a temporary excuse to avoid a gym workout. I hate being cooped up inside!

@Jack – I have a question about swimming. I was a competitive swimmer for years. For a nearly an unbroken decade, I was swimming nearly 6 days a week and never took more than 2 weeks off between seasons. Based on some of your comments, I think I should have been both cold adapted and Leptin sensitive. Yet during that period, I was always seriously fatigued and overtrained and had the propensity to have appetite problems and to gain weight easily when the workload decreased at the end of a season.

How is that possible? Sure I was eating a high carb diet (lots of whole grain pasta, bread, rice and fruit), but shouldn’t I have been like Phelps, where food really doesn’t matter? I mean, I spent 1.5-2 hours a day minimum in water that was 16-18 degrees below body temp. Shouldn’t that have been enough?

@The kid……you answered your own question and still fail to realize the implications of this blog…….You must do everything at the same time correctly or you get partial suboptimal results……You are a living breathing example of my Paleo Summit talk. You need to play that talk in your ears alot until you get it…….your thoughts have constantly subjugated your genes and you still refuse to listen to it. The results are in the mirror and in illness

i’m only to comment 200, but i don’t think this question has been asked before- why does supplementing with regular fish oil or cod liver oil increase my menstral blood flow to the point it becomes dangerous and i get dizzy and have to worry about anemia again? i can’t do the CT protocol properly if i don’t improve my o6 to o3 ratio. how can i improve my o3 ration if supplements make me bleed out? i don’t eat processed food at all, so i don’t think my 06 is sky high.

thx!
ps dr. kruse, i do have to say that your compassion displayed on this board is so refreshing compared to some established paleo bloggers who will go un-named as i still like to go to them for info.

@V because it is a natural anticoagulant. Stop supplementing and eat the real food with them and your body will naturally get you to a 4:1 ratio……tinkering hurts humans and the body reacts to tinkering. I know as a supreme bio hacker. I have learned this hard lesson many a time over 6.5 years. When you are a CLINICIAN who actually treats and touches patients you develop a different kind of compassion……That is why your perception is what it is of me…….The others may not like to face that dogma. It cuts like a knife thru butter on their ego’s. Instead, they resort to name calling and childish gamemanship because they do not want to face their own dogma. Me, I like where evolution is taking me.

Since some are on the topic of teeth, I’m wondering what you think of cavitations? I just saw a new dentist about whatever is going on with my mouth and this one believes my issues are all from cavitations that never fully healed from my wisdom teeth removal 20 years ago. Thoughts?

I have major swelling in my face and pain in my teeth (varies from tooth to tooth). This all started about a month or two after having several amalgams removed and a crown put on one tooth.

One dentist says the teeth are infected though xrays look fine, another says cavitations, another says it’s a bite problem and another says it’s all in my head!

1. Could there be any negative effects of wearing a retainer at night? Since starting CT I’ve had a lot of sensation in my teeth throughout the day. I’m wondering if it would be better to let my body proceed unencumbered.

2. Does CT obviate the leaky gut prescription? That is, is there any reason to continue with NAC, vit C, zinc and Coq10 if one is taking lots of cold baths?

thanks doc. my 6/3 ratio is good. no problem there. i have been experimenting with col adaptation for the past 6 months on my own – womderful to read your stuff. im DLing in the 200s now and strength is skyrocketing whie bf is dropping – ive never had a sixpack before. this works.

Living in SoCal my tap water is not very cold–60 degrees. Buying huge amounts of ice seemed impractical so instead I filled and froze, eleven, 1 liter bottles. Also made 3 homemade gel packs (zip-loc bag with rubbing alcohol and water). The bottles help to lower bath temp to 50-55 plus I find they are helpful to spot ice in the bath as well. I tuck one under each arm (between arm and body), capture a couple under my calves, tuck one under my double chin…you get the idea. The gel packs get extremely cold so it is necessary to use a wet towel or some sort of material for skin protection. These can be moved around as needed too. When done with ct bath, I load all bottles and gel packs into sturdy shopping bags and haul back to the garage for refreezing. Gives me a small workout hauling bags up and down the stairs too. Gel packs should be double bagged and will need replacing every so often.

So 2 weeks of Leptin RX and CT. I lost 5 pounds yesterday. I ate strict paleo for 2 years and lost 60 pounds but not all of my belly fat. I switched to phd last year and felt better but added 15 pounds. I have done body by science every 10 days for 3 years. I’m strong but could never get rid of the belly fat. I’m really shocked. I’m eating the same foods except for safe starches! I’m shocked that I like being cold! I’m still not used to all the looks I get in public. Wearing shorts and a t shirt in rainy 43 degree weather makes everyone stare.

So Dr K if I can use safe starched to make bread, pasta, and cookies how the hell are safe starched not candy cigarettes?

@Joe this may make it an easier task………Paleo analogy at the blog: Your biology runs like a Ferrari. If you do well you are putting in super octane gas and not the cheap gas. You do all the maintenance as prescribed and you do not try to out think the designers. Your oil looks pristine. Keep in mind that your thyroid regulates your metabolic engine while it is at idle. Your adrenals regulate it while it is engaged. If you’ve been driving your engine with your “pedal to the metal” as a result of any number of stressors over time does it not make sense that your central computer might “dial down the idle” as a way of helping you to avoid blowing a gasket? When you do that you are a warm adapted cross-fitter following a 2.0 paleo template……..Never forget that…….this is how you deplete your life force.

I have truly enjoyed your posts. The wife and kids are out of the house today, so I got to read this entire post. Amazing insights! I cannot believe the amount of horizontal thinking you have done to integrate all of this.

One thing that really caught my eye (that was just a fleeting point) was your mention of barometric pressure. I am an emergency physician. I have worn the Nike Lance Armstrong watch at work for a long period of time. It has a barometric pressure reading with a 24 hour trend function. Over the years I have noted (and can now predict) flurries of certain clinical conditions when there is a sharp shift in barometric pressure. The most obvious in order from most common to least is….hyperventilation syndrome, idiopathic urticaria, ureteral kidney stone, hemorrhagic CVA, vertebral artery and aortic dissection, myocardial infarction, ischemic CVA, and vasovagal syncope. The nurses are amazed when I can look at a barometric pressure trend and predict what we should expect to see over the next few hours. I wonder if you have noted similar trends. If not, perhaps my observations may offer additional dots on the map that you may be able to connect. I suspect that humans that are not cold-adapted are very poorly adapted to handle these sudden changes in barometric pressure.

Thanks for all your work and your willingness to make this public. Just imagine what is possible to a 20 year old who implements this. I am thrilled at age 50.

@Doug MCGuff MD Thanks for the kind words. I am working on bio hacks on barometric pressure. It fits my theory perfectly, but I am not ready to unleash that story until the testing I do is done. I do see many disease trends that track to barometric trends……and stroke, DJD and MI are some of the bigger ones. I promise when I am done with this series I am going to give biology the foundational theory it needs to lead modern man and healthcare back to optimal. If you listen to Robb Wolf’s recent SUNY New Paltz’s lecture he mentions it in there. I do not think anyone in the paleo-sphere sees where I am headed but I am going to give all of us the strongest foundation you might imagine in evolution when this is all said and done. Evolutionary biology is the basis of this theory and it explains all the paradoxes I have faced as a neurosurgeon. This is 40 years of thinking horizontally just like our 6 layered cerebral cortex is wired in all of our heads. I have used this theory to do some amazing things to me and my family but what it has done to my practice and my patients is just unreal. It is a clinical game changer. Our paleo sphere suffers from a severe lack of clinical data and expertise…..and swims in regurgitating bad studies that do not even consider the cold adapted pathways. Well, I am going to kick that thinking in the can. I hate all forms of dogma, paleo or not. It is what hinders science more than anything else. The warm pathaways in our biochem books are well understood, but none of them can explain what I found and what Lance, Phelps, Sherpa’s and astronauts have……..And that is where the road to optimal begins. I’m taking you on that journey of how I found it.

Dr. Kruse – thank you a million times. I have been actively searching for you for at least the past 5 years when I gave up on the “poly-pharmacy treatment of symptoms approach” and decided to try to understand root causes. My main complaints at least 10 years ago were fatigue/malaise, expanding waist-line and mental dullness … diagnosed over the years as menopausal, depression, osteopenia, and finally HTN w/high cholesterol ..with Rxs for each. My self-treatment plan evolved over the past 5 years to a VLC gluten-free mostly ketogenic diet, Vit D, Vit K, Mg, coconut oil and some fish oil – mostly replaced now with fresh fish. I’ve taken no Rxs for 3 years. I’m 5’1″ and 68. Highest weight was 135 with waist 36″. Now I’m 114 – waist 28 – no HTN – but my main complaint has always been not weight per se but being sluggy and ditzy and insecure wondering if my piece-meal approach was stupid. You are truly the teacher this student has been searching for. I’m sure that my cortisol level has already plummeted – knowing that I have not been killing myself with my N=1 approach. I’m currently easing into the CT and am committed to being an energized and inspired optimal 70 – maybe even 69! I can not thank you enough for all the information, support and encouragement.

I hope someone has alerted the hotels in Austin to have lots of ice on hand next week! Maybe they can turn down the temp on the pool to 50 and everybody can do CT together :-). Good luck on all your presentations next week at PaleoFX. I am really looking forward to all you have in store for us over the coming months.

Dr K
I am reading along daily and completely energized by your posts! I cannot wait for followups. Question? I have been practising hot yoga for awhile now. Strength and flexibility are gained for sure. Hot yoga is practised in a room heated to 42 Celsius. I am taking cold showers and cold adapting as well. Is the hot yoga cancelling my efforts? Any good at all?
Thank you so much for your response. Love the cookbook as well!!!!!!

If you were trying to convince a marmot that trusted you against its instincts that had already started the biological processes of starting summer, was getting the nutrients and minerals replaced, but was cranky and unreasonable, what would be the most important place to put ice on the marmot? the thyroid or the ab fat? This is incremental negotiations.

Dr K, this series is amazing; I’ve bought your e-book and sent the link to your podcast from the other night, and your blog, to so many people who have been asking me all these questions that I just can’t answer with enough detail. They’ve been noticing a change in me and asking what I’m doing – and then I’m inevitably met with “Paleo? You’re burning fat?? So it’s like the Atkins diet?” or “Leptin what? With cold what??” It’s kinda funny, but I’m learning more and more every day with your help and just by paying attention.

Anyway, I’ve been cold adapting for almost 2 weeks now (I just sat in a tub of 50 degree water for 30 minutes – for the first time). My question, though, is about whether or not we should cut out MCTs completely once we’re cold adapted. I’m in my 20s, used hCG, am now considered a normal weight (though I do still have fat to lose in places), and have been on the reset for a few weeks. The main source of fat I’ve been using (as an additive to my grass-fed meat, eggs, and fish) is coconut oil and coconut manna. Now that I’m cold adapting, should I lay off the coconut oil indefinitely and stick to lard, ghee, bacon grease, and pastured butter? Are there any other fat sources that are ok, too? I know you use macadamia nut oil and coconut oil…so are they ok in moderation? I did use hCG, so I just wanna make sure I’m getting the right kinda stuff into my body.

Drs. K + McGuff: can’t wait to hear more about the barometric pressure tie-ins…. i have noticed an increase in my baro-related headaches (always right side behind eye and the forehead in a distinct band). and noticed they came on as other health markers were declining, suspecting hormonal tie-ins. thanks.

fwiw, I may have pulled a stupid one on the CT. Two kids with URI’s for the past week – enough hacking to disturb everyone’s sleep. Felt a tickle in my throat last night, popped the zinc and did my CT anyway – first time before bed – about 2145-2215. Otherwise I’ve been doing it in the morning It felt fantastic and was also the first time with a bit of ice. (BTW I use the plastic 1quart Glad ware containers 3/4 full and just stack a bunch up in the freezer) I never stopped shivering ALL night. I was wide awake from 3-5am. Not sure if the CT released all the crap, but I feel sick from nose to toes. Productive cough, headache, body aches. And instead of shorts and a tshirt, I’m stuck with cords, wool sock, sweater and, hot tea/ Tylenol today. Boo, hiss. Just hoping that I’m not losing all my adaptation.

Hi Jack,
I am following this with awe! What a revelation.
Can you briefly say a few words about “emotional stress”? I am a psychotherapist and sometimes do feel exhausted after seeing only 2 or 3 clients (get lots of “negative/sad energy”) and can feel my adrenaline and cortisol is high, feeling stressed out.
Have taken DHEA (which was low) and it helps somewhat. But don’t want to take it all the time.
Thanks.
Werner

Dr. K I’ve begun doing CT, 6 days ago. Have soaked in a cold bath 4 times and keep an ice pack on my belly the rest of the day. When I took measurements this morning my waist was down 1″ and my belly was down 2″ in 6 days!!! This is FANTASTIC!!!!

This is sort of pathetic. I sent an e-mail to a very good blogger, concerned with longevity topics, advising him taking a look at this blog, and I’ve created a thread on a life extension forum. As for the first, no answer, as for the second, answers of the type “we should listen to?”, it’s too long, might you summarize?.

Jack’s claims are so high, that I must say I’ll be happy if they are 10% correct, but they are defenitively worth consideration, but people don’t listen even when you are giving them something potentially impressive.

@Santiago…….this is how survival power laws work. 10% make it and 90% perish. The survivors benefit from the decisions…….Optimal is not for everyone in the modern world. Modern man is mediocre and most want everything spoon fed to them in 140 characters or less. The ones who are interested will pay attn. The rest will do what they do. Its human nature. I see it daily in my clinic. You should get used to it. This is why people still take statins and think modern healthcare has all the answers…….as long as they do not have to do anything to help themselves. They want a pill for every ill. It fits the drive thru mentality of modern man. We are lazy and expect the world to come to us by push technology. Well, news flash……..Mother Nature does not work that way.

Another question: for many years I have had intermittent pain in my front teeth. Always involved both top and bottom teeth, sometimes left, sometimes right, but always matching top and bottom. Two dentists couldn’t work out why. I noticed a correlation with my posture; if I slumped in from of my laptop, the pain would start. It was excruciating, and there would be an increase in salivation. Sometimes turning my head to the side would relieve the pain, but not always.

All the talk of teeth today reminded me; I haven’t had this happen since I started the Leptin Rx back in November, not once! Any insight Dr Kruse?

@Dom Regarding your email on energy expenditure here is what I am using as baselines for me: At least 80% from chemical energy is transformed to heat. Basal metabolic rate is ca. 58 W/m2 which corresponds ca. 110 W/individual. Muscular work can increase metabolic rate maximally to 1000-1300 W, but at a continuous work rate the level of 500 W is more probable. Muscular shivering can increase metabolic rate maximally to approx. 300-500 W. In intensive shivering the energy sources are carbohydrates from gluconeogenesis while in continuous low intensity shivering the energy sources are lipids from adipocytes after the liver is clear out. It appears that visceral fat is used up first in cold thermogenesis too.
If one energy source is depleted, muscles can flexibly switch the energy substrate to another. This is why I always recommend eating prior to CT training.
When ambient temperature decreases by 1°C, the 24-hour energy expenditure increases 100-130 kJ due to increased amount of clothing, cold induced heat production and other factors like snow, ice and darkness. This is why I try to lose the clothes in my example to you. I hope this answers your questions.

I just can’t stop loving this blog. Had more ice packs on today…feels so GOOD! I started more with the tub, but did a ice/cold shower yesterday…that was ALSO amazing! I had some slight soreness in my neck/shoulders b/c I went swimming. (Ok, I just like to swim not as ‘exercise’ but b/c I like to move—too bad the water is TOO HOT!). Anyways, I took the cold shower and made the cold water between my shoulder blades. It was pure heaven. On the rest of my body of course it was freezing, but on my back it felt like some kind of accupuncture. I was totally relieved and fresh.

Btw, love the Weber JM paper on fuel selection in shivering humans.

Btw, Katherine Hepburn who lived to 96 (and was in good health until 90) used cold showers and swam in frigid waters. She was quite the lady!! You look at her and she was always tall and slim. The tall part of course is b/c she was kind of naturally tall, but the slim part…I’m sure the cold showers/cold swims really helped her. Even though she didn’t eat Optimally. The thing is though, she probably naturally ate less anyway b/c of the CT, so the CT still protected her from average diet.

Amazing! Thank you!
Fourth week into CT and feeling great! On my way to work, bouts of leptin send me sprinting the streets. In a T-shirt (10 degrees here in Paris). My body feels so weirdly light, I guessÂ Beta-endorphins are kicking. I get bruises but things that would have hurt so much before are now duller and the pain quickly fades.

CT-1 reminded me of an odd patient I examined 5 years ago. He was in his fifties but seemed 30. I was so impressed by how he looked so healthy and muscular. I asked him how he was working out. He answered he wasn’t . He was just taking cold showers first thing in the morning and was mostly working outdoor. I tried the cold showers a couple of times then. But it was too hard so I dropped it and forgot.Â
Years passed. I gained love handles, postprandial sleepiness, lower mood and an annoying knee pain. At age forty, the seemingly young doctor was showing clinical signs of leptin-resistance. Got me reading a lot of articles on carbs and diet. last June I went VLC /GF, lost 30 pounds easily and felt young again. It made me realize that most of the people I was treating were afflicted by disease of civilization and that conventional medicine was mainly symptom managing. I needed to know better if I wanted to really cure.Â
Then I stumbled on your blog. I was amazed by the depth of your knowledge in physiology.
Â This is such a paradigm shift. You truly deserve the Nobel.
I believe this is going toÂ be great for my diabetic patients! Problem is that they often have cardiovascular conditions too. So let’s assume I find a cardiologist who will take me seriously. What should I ask him in order to clear the way for CT? Is a negative stress test enough? I assume beta blockers are counter-productive, is that correct?

@ Chimpchick That’s a great idea! Will look into that. Those things don’t even cost much, and I think I can get it at the Dollar Store! (My arms are pretty good, just a SLIGHT flab on the bottom. The rest has definition of muscle. My legs are what I work on, lol).

Isn’t eating Grass-fed beef just as good as seafood or in addition to seafood to increase O3
? I don’t like a lot of seafood because of the high mercury so I stick to wild salmon only and some wild shrimp. Found this: Grass-fed meats improve fat levels

Eating moderate amounts of grass-fed meat for only 4 weeks will give you healthier levels of essential fats, according to a 2011 study in the British Journal of Nutrition.

The British research showed that healthy volunteers who ate grass-fed meat increased their blood levels of omega-3 fatty acids and decreased their level of pro-inflammatory omega-6 fatty acids. These changes are linked with a lower risk of a host of disorders, including cancer, cardiovascular disease, depression, and inflammatory disease.

Interestingly, volunteers who consumed conventional, grain-fed meat ended up with lower levels of omega-3s and higher levels of omega-6s than they had at the beginning of the study, suggesting that eating conventional meat had been detrimental to their health.

Coconut oil: Normally have 3 tablespoons per day plus in cooking? Now you are saying limited CO in winter. It’s still winter so limit to 1T per day and eat butter instead? When can I bring back the CO…spring ok or wait until summer?
Also, if I’m trying to bring up o3 and limit o6, then, no nuts, right? Or mac nuts and walnuts (o3) ok?

@claudia It depends if you are treating obesity than I am fine with CO……if you have neolithic disease I am still fine with CO……but once you get better keep palm and CO to spring and summer cooking. Most people however, have some issue they are dealing with it when they transition to this lifestyle.

The Top 10 Shopping List for The Paleo Answer by Cordain that you recommended to me Dr. Kruse:
*Wild salmon

– Lean beef (grass-fed if possible)

– Hormone-free chicken

– Organic eggs

– Raw unsalted walnuts

– Ground flaxseed meal

– Organic broccoli

– Organic blueberries

– Orthopedic-style walking shoes

– Short-sleeve white cotton T shirt Wild salmon

I already eat these things regularly, except the flax meal and the blueberries (but I can add these in the summer, right? Can I start to add blueberries in the late spring?) In order to increase my o3/o6 ratio should I just eat the wild salmon more frequently, maybe 3 times per week instead of just once? Would that work? I eat organic eggs with grass-fed beef for breakfast most days, sometimes just eggs. Then, fish like salmon would work for dinner, but can’t eat it every night it’s just too expensive. Won’t nuts, even walnuts and mac nuts, tip me to again toward o6 more? I want to get back to CT as soon as these hives are gone so going to work on increasing O3. Do I start CT protocol over again from the start? I am so afraid to add ice packs, though, because I could get hives again. I only have hives right now where I put the ice on my body (while in a cold bath). Cold face dunks, cold showers at 50 degrees, and cold baths at 50 degrees were all fine for me and I was progressing and adapting to it, up to 15 minutes. It’s the ice (in a ziplock bag) that did me in. So, do I start CT again by just using the cold water, dunks, showers, and baths, and stay away from the ice? Of course, not going to do this until my hives are completely gone and I’m feeling better.

@Claudia I like your plan to add salmon, not a flax fan……period. blueberries are OK for spring. I just cooked them tonight but wont eat them just yet. What about shell fish…..clams and mussels are cheap? So are sardines.

I now swim ~100min 6days a week in ~81degree water (I don’t control the temp). My current weight is 279 (321 on 1 Feb 12 when my dieting started), I’m 6′. My weight loss rate was slowing, but I’m still hoping to hit 50# in 50 days. I’m making changes real time as I try to see what works best. I began on nearly a fast with only a few bites of lean protein a day the first week, then about 500cal/day mainly lean protein second/third wks, I had a wk of only seafood and shrimp and a few veggies in Florida and a small amount of orange. I tried a wk of 1100-1300 cals Atkins’-like diet and my weight loss really slowed. I’ve been alternating days of higher and lower cals this week averaging about 850. Now, I eat no sweets, starches, grains, breads, and very limited dairy and fruit(an eighth of an orange before swimming 2-3 times a wk). Carbs are restricted to less than 20g net, some days much lower. I drink only water. No fake sugars either. I rarely feel hungry except at meal times. At other times drinking some water usually chases away any hunger pangs.
Could my swimming be cold adapting(LS) me in a minor way? I feel cold sometimes during the swim and have experienced a very interesting ‘swimmer’s high this week’. Whether that was from endorphinea or endocannabinoids being released or just a lack of oxygen to the brain, I don’t know. But the experience was very Zen-like, the water and I became one. I didn’t want to quit, my strokes became more graceful, breathing slowed and I could stay under longer, but alas the pool was closing.
I read the Monk book and am trying to be more positive. I seem to have plenty of energy and yesterday my wife described me as ‘exuberant’, a first.
I’m thinking of adding some HIIT to my swimming. I have a partially torn achilles which limits alot of my exercise choices. I would like to try CT, but I have no idea what my omega 6/3 is and am confused by many of the abreviations and technical jargon. I’m taking a rather high dosage of prescribed ‘zocor’, as well as synthroid. I’d really rather not but don’t know the best way to eliminate them. Gradual or cold turkey? I have a physical coming up in a month or so and will be asking my physician for an opinion. Everyone says my weight loss is too fast, my cals too low, and very unhealthy. Yet, I feel better than I have for years and I just had the first normal blood pressure check in a decade. I know my weight was and still is at an unhealthy level, so I am very interested in getting to an healthy weight ASAP. Any help you can provide would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks Dr.
But what about my prescribed zocor and synthroid. Are they helpful or holding me back?
What’s a ‘healthy’ weight loss rate for someone my size? (Please don’t say 1-2# a wk.) I’m NOT that patient. My current rate is now about 4-5#/wk.

Thanks DR. K. Clams and mussels sound good and I will add. How about CT? When I start again, when the hives are gone and I’ve tested my o6/03, do I start from scratch with face dunking again? Are cold showers and baths ok for me? I am afraid of using ice now. Can I do CT without ice bags and just cold water?

Alrighty Doc, I used a 20 lb bag of ice in the tub this morning, along with a 10 lb chunk of ice in my abdomen for 45 minutes. It felt fine for the 1st thirty minutes, then I got cold. When I got out of the tub, I almost fell over and my hands hardly worked. Seemed like fine motor control went out the window for an hour or so. Then, all of the sudden, my upper back seemed to go hot. It felt like it was burning up, but my wife said it still felt cold. It has been burning all day, and my wife now feels it & says it’s warmer than the rest of my body. Pilot light coming on?

Last night I had a big feed, at least 100g protein at 4pm, then had a 15 minute 48 degree soak at 8pm. I was very cold after. It took me 30 minutes to warm up. Fell asleep quickly at 10pm but woke up between 2:30am and 3:30am. I could not fall back asleep.

@Jack I have another question:
The CT protocol blog post is directed at people trying to lose weight. Are there any modifications you suggest for someone underweight going through cold adaptation?

@Andrew the CT protocol is directed at anyone who seeks optimal……..it helps reverse many bad things. But if someone who is fit uses it to train…….well the limit for them are North of Armstrong and Phelps in my opinion because neither one at correctly for the pathway……..they just used many part of it to become elite. If you use it you can do what Phelps did and eat ungoldly amount of food while you are training. He did this because he trained in cold water while Lance did not do this because he trained in cold air so Phelps became an extreme calorie burner.

When you say ‘can we eat small, exercise small,….’ what do you mean by eat small? Do you mean small meals or small numbers of calories or less meals? My stomach has shrunk on the LR. I am interested to know how many calories you or a typically cold adapted person (ie. inuit) would eat in a day… I thought they ate caloric dense meals?

Also Jack, just for some extra info… the inuits seem to have stockier bodies than say the aborigines who have stick-like limbs. Since the aborigines did experience extremely hot weather but also very cold temperatures in the desert they put fat on around their organs for protection, so they typically have a larger torso. I thought this was an interesting (and blatantly obvious) adaptation! I live in Aus.. most of the turned-SAD aboriginals still have very thin limbs and only put weight on around the abdomen.

@Natalie The point here is to break some dogma that comes from the exercise and training world. Most believe that to get fit and put on muscle mass that we have to “eat big” (lots of protein, carbs and fat) and “exercise big”, meaning lift a lot of weight to get to this goal. The point of the Ancient pathway is that it breaks this dogmatic view point. A bear who uses this pathway goes into their den to hibernate is fat and happy after gorging on carbohydrates during the summer. When they emerge 4 months later after their long slumber without food, drink, or restroom uses they have their lowest body fat and highest lean muscle mass. They are in the best shape of the year and are supreme predators. Their hunger returns because the light cycles are longer and their body temperatures are also warmer. They are magnificent specimens. Humans have the same pathway built into them but they never see it because our big brains that control our environments extinguished the need for hibernation and we rarely ever face harsh winters because we have figured out how to make clothes, heated seats, and heated homes. We never see this pathway because we never face winters like most mammals do. The Inuit and Aborigines however were two of the last remaining groups of humans who did actually face them and used this pathway to survive their environments until their diets radically changed and the benefits of the pathway vanished along with their health. This pathway allows us to eat small, exercise small and when we emerge be in better condition and do things that most warm adapted humans who eat big and exercise big cant fathom……..That is the point.

1. Why do bodybuilders croak dead of MI’s in their 40’s and 50’s from stem cell depletion yet they are known for eating relatively clean compared to SAD (they usually will do lots of O3, avoid sugar/fructose, etc)— yet you advocate heavy lifting when LS?

2. If the CT is so effective for longevity, does Lifting and HIIT confer any additional health advantages when Cold adapted? or are they more important only when warm adapted? Are the advantages for in the cold pathway mainly functional (improved VO2 max, strength) as opposed to longevity (decreased inflamation, CVD, etc?).

3. I saw those Zeltiq fat machines take about 2 months to kill about 25% of the adipocytes in the area chilled (39 degrees F)…Are The results are similar from CT after 2 months from chilling the skin to 50-55 degrees in cold packs, cold showers, baths, etc?

@Ben G 1. first off most are using stuff they should not……and they are eating a pro growth diet (carbs) that speeds up their chemical clocks and shortens their telomeres…..that is why they die. same thing with NFL football players……they do not age well. Endurance athletes too…..There are no long lived Kenyans who run. The reason I like HIIT is because in cold mTOR and IGF1 help longevity they dont in warm adapted peoples.
2. Yes it can….in cold mTOR and IGF1 are protective…….that is 180 degrees what all current longevity data says. It needs to be tested but I think Lance beating metastatic brain cancer and my own testing is eye opening here.
3. CT and zeltiq use the same pathways the main difference is that they are doing it in warm adapted patients…..so they use metal to conduct the cold and they use a different temp to do it. They only use one application for 45 minutes…..it is controlled. My CT protocol is how evolution uses it in all mammals in the polar regions…….my way is cheaper and safer.

Thanks..
One other question…I know exercise physiologists say regarding traditional lifting that you shouldn’t lift a exercise a body part more than once every 3-5 days if you are natural. The athletes on “the stuff they should not be on” are usually lifting every 24-48 hours since AS enhances their recovery. Obviously a natural, warm adapted will over train at that frequency. How often can a cold adapted person lift, and long do they need to follow the CT protocol to get to that super-normal level of recovery?

@BenG Stop……think. What does a polar mammal do when he hibernates than is different than you when his muscles are getting huge and strong? He is sleeping in the cold for four months……..Did you hear the words exercise once in there? Nope. Just think for a minute. Maybe, just maybe, what youre conditioned to believe about exercise is plain wrong?

I suggest you do the same as Heather……stop pver thinkign it and let Mother Nature sculpt you……..CT and a ketogeneic diet is the Primal Rx of the Ancient Pathway. You need to now shut the computer off and think about this for one hour……..cause I wont answer you again for 60 minutes. You need time to let this sink in. So does the rest of Paleo folks.

Got a big thank you this morning via email from my mother’s friend; I sent her your blog last night and she’s apparently been reading all morning! Paying it forward.

Anyhow, I have a couple more quick questions about CT and my reaction to it.

1) I started with my face in cold water for about a week, but could keep my face under the 50 degree water with relative ease, even at first. This was my second cold bath today, and I find that I am freezing all the time and less tolerant of the cold. I’m colder in the mornings than I was prior to CT, and my feet are especially cold throughout the day. Is it normal to be colder at first in the beginning? What kind of things should we expect to experience while we’re adapting?

2) When I’m doing the cold baths, is there an optimal amount of time to spend a day in order to adapt? I’ve been doing 30 minutes in the tub at 50 degrees, but would definitely be open to more or less if it’s too much/too little.

@heather……read the other comments……i have answered this on a lot…….adaptation is not a linear process in biologic systems…..but rest assured it happens in us all. How and when are time variables that depend upon what each one of us is made from and what our body compositions, LR or LS status is……without all the variables your shooting in the dark.

But a recommendation for you……stop being a human and trying to out think it…….let the mammal biochemistry sculpt you…….I know its hard but trust me, as a smart ass mammal myself……..you can’t do better than Mother Nature. Many of us smart educated docs and scientists need to realize that an evolutionary platform beats any study ever published…….but us smart modern humans make that error daily too. I stopped it 6 yrs ago. It was hard but it was necessary. It helped keep this stuff from us for 2.5 million years.

@Dr Kruse: The polar bear in 688 sleeping is the opposite of what you said in #681 “Yes it [Exercise] can….in cold mTOR and IGF1 are protective…….that is 180 degrees what all current longevity data says. It needs to be tested…”

BenG when do we hibernate? We do it two hours when we sleep every night…..we compress hibernation due to our brain growth. Polar bears don’t exercise when they hibernate and they release anabolic hormones then to stimulate muscle growth…….we do the exact same thing……you just may not realize it but you will after CT 7. We are just like our mammal buddies. Exercise is not required for optimal……but it can really lead to amazing performance if one has a program to take advantage of it…….and I do……but its way to early to go there. And by the way……you did not wait an hour did you? you waited 58 minutes…..

1. Cold adaption (i.e. its protocol) should be held during the whole year, not only fall/winter, right?.

2. After 4 days of cold showers -in spite of hating cold all my life- I’ve found to my surprise no more goose bumps and no much pain. The problem I’m forecasting now for the future is… how boring it is. 20 minutes under a shower is really boring, and if I try baths I believe will be worse. Maybe radio can help… I don’t know.

3. What’s your take on daily. Robb, De Vany, etc. hate it. Other people like Kresser are more flexible. Personally I love cheese, and use milk with coffes, but I don’t know whether I’m sabotaging myself.

@Santiago 1. yes if you are trying to stay cold adapted for performance or neolithic disease…..or longevity.
2. Im in my pool now Santiago talking to you……find something to do….ipod, emails, reading my blog? There is a lot an idle mind can’t do while doing this. What do you do when you exercising…….CT is primordial exercise.
3. Dairy……not for me. only dairy I used is pastured butter and raw heavy cream……that is it.

@Dr Kruse–that’s fair enough…I just think it might be a good idea to summarize somewhere that the exercise recommendations you wrote in the post-leptin reset need not apply during CT. It would help clarify things and remove confusion for the readers.

Dr K , the question I have for you is twofold . Firstly , I am of south Indian descent … I am the product of an ancient culture that evolved from the agricultural tradition. Our traditional diet is heavily grain based in an extreme ( tropical ) setting. I have noticed, over the last few years, diseases such as rheumatic arthritis and other inflammatory ailments are very common and have been common for generations… I’m questioning the traditional diet now … But I’ve also been told that my ancestors used to live long back then without falling ill. Today, in my early thirties , I’m fighting heart disease , asthma and cancer and am appalled at myself ! I do want to know what went wrong esp since there is no family history for these particular diseases in my family tree. Can it be diet? Or a change in environment ( I’m currently residing in the US)? What can I do to aid my body chemistry to adapt and thrive in its current environment ( including the changes happening within due to chemo , radiation and other medication) ?
Secondly , I’ve noticed that cold air is one of the triggers of my Asthma ? How can I safely cold adapt without triggering my Asthma ?

@Sri It is your diet. Southern India has bigger health issues than the USA now. I would strongly suggest you by the book called The Paleo Answer by Loren Cordain and read it. It has so much data in it to explain to you why your diet is completely mismatched for your biology. You might have been told many things in your life but your current reality should make you wonder if what you are socialized to believe is in fact true. Much of what we believe is at the root cause of what hurts our biology.

People keep asking how much the Inuit ate in terms of calories. I have read, studied, and lived among the modern Inuits for the past 10 years. They ate basically fish (salmon, whitefish, cod, blackfish) and oil (seal or whale). It is a daunting task to eat 2lbs of raw salmon and 1 cup of oil per day. Plug this into FitDay and you get approx 3200 calories.

This is about the same as eating 10 cans of sardines in olive oil.

They also boiled most of the fish they ate and drank the broth, benefitting from the bone broth and offal. The head was a prized treat and fed mostly to the children.

The Inuit who hunted seal and caribou still subsisted mainly on fish and oil, but when they harvested a mammal, they would eat only the fattiest parts and offal and fed the lean meat to their dogs.

personally I’ll keep doing once per week HIT ala De Vany or McGuff. What’s the problem?. Arthur De Vany, who’s intution is truly remarkable, has been doing that and probably cold adapted during his whole life. Well, there are few live ‘experiments’ as good as him.

@Santiago I agree with you on Art for sure…….my point is that there are planes above Art……and as admirer’s of Art I think it is our duty to explore those planes……I am. If evolution built it it means it cant be wrong. I have been led down many wrong paths by research too often…..never one by evolution.

I have two problems. As Dr. Kruse said in #692 “Exercise is not required for optimal..” I’m interested in health, not the other reasons people exercise. If Dr. Kruse discovered a way to make it happen without spending time in the gym, I’m for all for it. My second problem, is I’m aware body by science uses the HIT and superslow protocol. I’m quite cognizant of the dogma of Church of HIT and Temple of Superslow. I did the heavy duty version that Mike Mentzer (he died of heart problems, BTW) pushed back in the 90s. It worked for a little bit, but eventually I stalled on it. It was useful as recovery tool from a higher volume, but not so great for long term progress. So thanks, but no thanks.

@BenG
How do you measure long term progress? CT protocol will give you all the strength you desire without being a gym rat.
Long term progress in the state of ones health can only be measured by telomere length. You may look good in the mirror but your long term health may be trashed by the beating you have perpetrated on yourself through exercise.

A truly ketogenic diet yoked with cold thermogenesis therapy will yield long term health without exercise.

@ Jack, should bitter melon be taken prior to CT, or just daily with other supps?

@ TheKid, Starting to sound like Trolling. If not, perhaps revisit some of the earlier posts in the series.

@ All, If the concept is “adapt”, then it does stand to reason that you make small changes, give a bit for adaptation and ramp up as you make progress. It seems lots of people are jumping right to cold baths then hit a wall. Could it be you didn’t allow for the time/incremental increase for your body to adapt?

@Cavemam 1. couple hours before CT. 2. I m not sure if its that or just poor thinking from poor dietary assimilation or just a lot of neolithic disease. 3. I totally agree. Humans always try to out think stuff.

I haven’t done a HIIT session in almost 3 weeks..only cold, and I’ve noticed I recover faster, and I haven’t lost any stamina (seems to have improved) from any NEAT or other physical activity (walking quickly up a hill to go somewhere)…can’t wait to see where it takes me in six months.

@BenG……I promise you, you wont believe what happens…..I had to do double takes when I saw what I was able to do without much training. It was eye opening. I had knee surgery and was told by the orthopod that Id have knee replacement surgery if I continued to squat the weights I was…..I went for a check up recently and he could not believe the MRI. He said it was like I never had any surgery at all. My knee feels great after CT. In the summer time with carbs……it feels the worse. So the last two summers I swim more than I lift and rarely run sprints in summer too.

@BenG LOL I am sorry I am laughing……but I know its true. And this is a lady who is treating a serious disease and has zero clue on how that disease even begins. This is why people are hating on my profession.

One thing that keeps coming up in my thought process – aren’t those cold environment mammals all big fatty beasts? Is it because in hominids the “cycle” is daily and not annually that we can be cold optimal yet not carry around all the fat and hibernate?

Once optimal, is CT something of an annual habit with the winter season?

Great “listen” while doing CT is the Steve Jobs book. Gives ya a little ooomph to keep going. It’s another example of dedication to perfection (optimal)and I found it inspiring as far as keeping on target and trying to ignore the daily annoyances of friends and family’s concern for my mental well being when I’m dragging ice to the bathroom and walking around half naked in the cold.

@Cavemam my family is gone for the weekend and i have had no clothes on all weekend and I have CT a ton since Friday…….Mammals are big fatty beasts in summer…..not winter. They are in supreme shape in winter. When you get back to optimal you can use CT just in fall and winter. I have found I like it so much that I do it all the time. In CT 7 you will see when homids actually hibernate……its two hours every night provided they get into those two hours……most dont today

@BenG yes……its sad but true. I hope soon people will start realizing that evolutionary medicine is amazing and it is the best RCT we will ever have. I am amazed when I hear a MD say well where is the proof? And then I take them into a mirror and say…….the proof is here……you came from a primate and look at what Mother Nature did for you without one research paper.

CT6, amazing! Tonight I sat in my cold bath water for 1/2 hour and listened to the uw podcast. I love the idea of being cold adapted as I have always hated being cold. If fat loss happens too – I will take it too.

Its made me chuckle to think of all these people sitting in cold icy water. Hands across the world! LOL

I want to make sure…so, the way that you lost all the weight was just Leptin diet and CT? I have several people who I would like to refer to your blog but I remember following/recommending Barry Sears of the Zone only to find out that he was going to a very expensive clinic for HGH injections and hormone therapy. Of course, I did take away from the Zone eating more protein, understanding silent inflammation and taking purified fish oil.

I have enjoyed reading your blog and appreciate your willingness to share your experiences and information.

This CT along with the leptin reset is truly amazing. I’m sleeping well, have tremendous energy, and have lost 4 lbs this week. I’m a 60 year old woman with hypothyroidism and T2D so I am really excited about the potential benefits.

@Sharron you made my wife smile……she loves seeing older women get their grove back. I got hers back so she likes when we can help those who have been spit out by our current system. CT -7 is going to have some nice nuggets in it for you I promise.

Jack, you asked for input for doctor criteria on PH, and horror stories. I put the *short* version of my story there. As a side note, my economic stance is that for the type of health care I envision, I would be OK with up to $2000 per year. That is what my current insurance deductible is and I’m happy to pay that much for labs, consultation, and an action plan. Of course, that excludes emergency care and chronic diseases that are not readily treated through lifestyle change.

My doc put me on Amlopidine for high blood pressure. What do you think of that drug? I can’t figure out why it’s still high when all my other labs were awesome, seriously awesome. I have reversed my prediabetes, fatty liver disease, anemia and hypertrigylceremia. The only 2 labs that were a bit below normal was HDL went down to 23, and potassium to 3.9. TSH went up while FT3 & FT3 went down but they weren’t far from normal range so I’m not too worried about them. How does one increase HDL and potassium through nutrition? and again, what’s your take on Amlopidine?

@LisaAPB that medicine is a calcium channel blocker that reduced the tone in your arteries…….if you eat right and keep your D3 and K2 levels good and your diurnal cortisol is fine you likely will see your BP drop with time. I bet your renin aldosterone system is out of whack too but it should get better as you get better.

Jack, I’ve been doing the Leptin Rx and recently CT. The CT is wild! I can feel things happening. I had blood work done last week and I’m a little confused at the results as they relate to what I’m doing. If you would comment on how I can improve the numbers I’d be grateful.

I’ve been eating Paleo for 8 weeks. T2D, 296Lbs currently, BP 126/62. I have been on the Leptin reset Rx for 6 weeks. I eat at least 4 T CO every day.

@Eric you need CT bad……but you need a way tighter diet. Your TG tell me you must cut all grains and dairy stat. You need a ketogenic paleo template with CT. If you do that your numbers would improve……id also bet your testosterone, progesterone, DHEA, Vitamin D, HS CRP are even worse…….but learn from your failures here……they can only go up my friend. You are on the right path by posting here.

@just when you shred fat you release a ton of toxins and you restore thyroid balance quickly…..so while youre doing CT you may notice the jitteriness from having to drop your thyroid meds. It is pretty common. I am sure others will chime in. Just pay attn to it and adjust your dose down with your doc.

<> This is what I’ve subconsciously thought, but did too much thinking about it and listening to well meaning medical experts. I’ve had discussions with family and friends about how is it so many people have issues with thyroid and diabetes and cancer and none of these so-called diseases have found a “cure” (and just where does the money from donations go, to help find the cure?? ) The answers to our well being are all right hereâ€”in each of us. Can’t get much simpler than that. I like how my life has been simplified since starting the reset and CT. I’m no longer thinking about what to eat or trying to get a big workout in. I don’t see myself ever going back to my old ways. I spoke with my son about all this today and why I’m doing this and I can sense he wants to, but won’t give up the things he likes and says he’ll be one of the 90% who won’t make it… and that made me think (yes there’s that again) that if I am optimal, I’ll potentially be around longer than my family will… rather a sad thought. I can only hope they will come around to wanting this for themselves. Thanks for opening our minds.

@PaleoNana let me let you in on a little secret of optimal living…….when your friends and family see you totally transform doing things they think are a bit out there……and you are regaining your health……..they all come for your wisdom. That is the time you rise from your chair and help them and not until. When the student in them presents…..then the teacher in you should arrive. Do not force this on anyone.

It is my understanding that ACTH stimulates the adrenals to make more cortisol. My adrenals don’t seem capable of making more cortisol and when the demand goes up I get the shakes and feel terrible until I take some hydrocortisone. (I take 5mg at a time). This makes me think that ct will be like beating a dead horse for me right now. I just don’t have any more to give. Am I missing something about this? Waking up at 3am is a classic low cortisol symptom. I am seeing that some who are starting to do ct are having that problem.

@PattyLa your adrenals maybe be broken……your missing the largest point of the Ancient Pathway…….the brain takes total control of the entire system It overides the adrenals and make ACTH directly at the brain level. The key when you use this pathways is to keep activity low to moderate……..that is how it is designed to work. The brain is working to keep you alive at all costs. It does not leave this to the peripheral systems……..That is what mammals are designed to do in cold. All of them.

My husband, Steve’s, labs look much like Eric’s with the exception that his A1c is now down to 5.6. His doc is thrilled and wants him to keep on keeping on. She is also a little interested in the program. Steve is on a ketogenic diet and has cut all cheese and nuts at the beginning of February. His Triglycerides are 222 and there is no more sugar or starch to cut from his diet. Due to serious knee and ankle problems he cannot walk for long at all. We have included the krill oil into the supplement program and it has worked wonders. However, my question is what else can he do to lower those triglycerides?

Having lost 25 lbs. since February 1st he is now cold all the time. I believe some of this is because he does not get much exercise at all. He is not yet mentally ready for CT. I keep dragging him a little further down the line to improved health, but he is balking a little when I suggest the CT. He was a bull in his youth. He is 322 lbs. and is still very solid. He abused his strength in his youth and is now paying for it with messed up joints. He also has asbestosis. This program is keeping his T2D at bay, and I believe it is helping to keep the lower lobes of his lungs clear of the asbestos so far.

@Susan If he soaks his ankle in the cold it will get a lot better. Trust me. Krill oil and several fish oils will help Steve. Make sure his D3 and K2 are good too…..all key for him. The TG issue is when leptin regains control of the liver, specifically enzyme PEPCK…….takes time. Read my blog Leptin Part Deux. If he does CT he wont need to exercise a lot….Tell him I said I dont care if he is ready or not…..his body requires it. He is wasting his telomeres as he procrastinates.

Beautiful 65 degree day here in Michigan. Did CT outside today. We have a large size Rubber Maid tote that we use to cool off my Black Lab during the summer. Well, I filled that up today with water from our 220 ft well. The temp. of the water was 54 degrees without ice. I was able to sit in it up to my waist for 15 minutes and then slouch down to get my torso and arms submerged for the last 13 minutes for a total CT of 28 minutes. Felt great!

My Black Lab kept looking at me with a funny look on his face. It seemed he was wondering why I was taking over his tote. I told him it was all in the name of Optimal Living. I suppose I will get my own tote so the both of use can do our CT together.

Only 3rd time doing CT and feeling great. Will keep everyone posted as to my results.

Dr. Kruse, I’m wondering if you have ever heard of MMS (Miracle Mineral Solution) by Jim Humble. It’s chlorine dioxide and he has treated thousands of people with malaria which clears up in 4 hours. It’s also been used by many people to treat cancer, aids, TB, infections, flu, diabetes, burns and gum diseases (it’s great for plaque). If you read the testimonies on the web, people have some amazing results. And the best part is, it’s very inexpensive. Any thoughts?

DrK – re #637 still feel like I’m fighting the plague. Really bummed that I’m having to bundle up, take OTC meds, slugging hot beverages. Will this undo my Leptin reset? Is there a better way to get over this cold? And am I right that CT is a no no if you are sick?

Just had a maybe skaithingly brilliant idea. I really don’t have much wt to lose below the belly and there are things down there I’d rather not shrivel up. Sitting in a tub seems counterproductive for us ‘apple’ shape guys. How to get in tub/shower without exposing the lower regions is difficult at best. My idea is to take a number of my old fairly tight polyester shirts and put them in the freezer. Then wear them one after another to CT my torso. Maybe even put a sweatshirt over to intensify effect. ???

Dr Kruse, I tried the Dive Reflex, twice in ice water. I did well or so I thought, but the next day I had severe IBS for most of the day. The next day I was OK. Since I have had a long history of IBS, helped by eating a high fat diet, is the CT not for me? I know 2 times is not much, but with my history, I am concerned that my IBS will flare and not abate in a day. Any thoughts?

@BR its common because of toxin dumping from fat……normal. Not a long term issue. You need to get rid of them anyway. Increase your B vitamins to clear and up your Krill oil…….See the comment to Brenda. you too.

@brenda yes it will……tell him the reason it happens because of the toxins coming out of his fat. He needs to increase his B vitamins or eat lots of mushrooms and up his Krill oil 500 mgs three times a day. It will pass.

@Ann. Good thinking! A tote would be perfect for cold backyard soaking. And I can use the water on my plants after it warms in the sun. Extra water is always welcomed by the greenery here in San Diego.

@Dr. Kruse. I feel like a million bucks! So many good changes, and it can only get better. Just out of curiosity, can you tell me why I pee like a racehorse after getting out of the cold tub or after using an ice pack on my menopot. Thank you ever so much.

Dr. Jack,
I swear I haven’t had a bite of any grain in 2 Months. Only real food and very little dairy. I drink my coffee black. We do eat a lot of garlic and onions, kale and greens. Maybe the quantity of veggies is hurting me.

I picked up some Keto test strips and I register only on the second color scale (slightly ketogenec)where my wife is one step better who eats the same as I.

@Eric it may just be your chemical clocks in your liver are bad…….CT should help you if your diet is tight. Ramp up the seafood……do not lose faith my friend. You do not need keto strips……I view them like a scale……they do nothing but make you over think things and raise your cortisol. Can them

Hey Jack I have another question. Ive been eating this diet and doing CT for a just over a week. Ive stopped doing a lot of my training due to the fact that it just depletes my glycogen and leaves me feeling week. Would you say its beneficial to just stop all my workouts and focus on my Adaption and just save myself for my races that are coming up soon. Im just waiting for my testoterone to get back up. I feel like the estrogen dumping is getting better and im feeling a bit better every day right now, have been using B vitamins and eating a ton of seafood.

not for long as in 1 month? or more? and thanks that what I wanted to hear. Ill give it up for a while for what is being promised. I hate the way I feel when I fuel of carbs and it always burns me out. I dont want to keep doing it. I love the way my brain works on this diet and am just a happier person all around.

I rarely ask questions on blogs especially yours considering your great efforts IRL and on the blogosphere, but here goes…
Doing CT for three days in a pool at 62 degrees. I live in So. Cal. I’m 47, BMI 23, no known health problems especially since I lost 130 pounds in about a year following Taube’s GCBC in 2010-11. I eat mostly paleo with raw milk and dairy tossed in (kefir, curds and whey, etc.). Sometimes I crave carbs especially after my hours changed to swing shift (less sleep). I am going to teach nursing in the near future so this will change. Maybe I will have to move to a colder climate back east, LoL.

First day: up to my chest for 25 minutes, felt great afterward, even took a cold shower before work and was pumped.

Second day: up to my neck 40 minutes. Felt great afterward and it seemed like I was wanting to shed clothes and wear less. I even bought thongs today (for my feet).

Third day: up to neck 45 minutes. At the 30 minute mark, I began to shiver and stuck it out although I noticed feeling cold in different parts of my body intermittently with a slight headache. After I finished, it was the same as before, I felt great, full of energy. Then, I took a run while drying. I ran until my body began to gave out. That is when it hit me. I got light headed, nauseated, and felt really bad. I put my head between my legs, took a warm shower, and finally went outside in the sun to rest until the severity subsided about 20 minutes later. Then I went inside, resting, and began to shiver uncontrollably for about 20 minutes. After I warmed I was fine, although a bit fatigued.

This is completely foreign and I want to get it right. Am I screwing this process up or was the exercise just a bad idea? I am reading all Feb. and Mar. to see if there is an easy how to but haven’t found one yet. There are definitely risks associated with doing CT wrong, and that is what I want to avoid.

@Donald…….read all the comments……I dont do dairy period. The Ancient Pathway has no room for dairy. You eat a paleo template loaded with seafood and very few carbs. If you do it your way you will create mismatches in your cell membranes…….the key to this is that we need youe cell membranes to be perfectly adapted to the environment……that means a 4:1 06/3 ratio with lots of Krill Oil and seafood……your 06/3 ratio eating dairy is north of 4:1. Read Patricia Kane’s work on epigenetic signaling and lipid biology of the cell membrane.

Been having diarrhea the last few days, thought it was the metformin so I halved the dosage (my bs is down to 90 now) but I’m still getting it after I eat. Been mainly eating seafood, bacon and eggs, no carbs, salami, thought it might be the salami but I still get it even when I don’t eat any salami. Haven’t changed any supplements lately, could it be caused by the ct getting rid of toxins?

Your answer to me #584; I asked can you cure Type 1 with CT. You said “yes I think it is possible but I think to fix type one you need CT plus IV cell membrane therapy to get your CM to a 4:1 ratio” I don’t know what CM is.

Okay, so I will dump the dairy for a 30 day experiment and reevaluate its continued use. It comes from grass fed cattle so I thought the omega 6/3 ratio, like the beef was similar to salmon. Any issues with my CT methodology? I know this also is transient and dynamic as our body and environment changes.

Should I also be eating a lot of 90% dark chocolate and turmeric to help repair cells that have been damaged from all my previous endurance excersise? Or anything else specific that I should do, ive suffered from adrenal problems before..

Do you have any experience in seeing light sensitivity in people, perhaps regarding fat soluble vitamins? Car head and brake lights seem to be enlarged with fuzzy edges. I spend much time at the computer, so I first thought perhaps it was an A deficiency, but after lots of mixed liver, nothing improved. I have seen that a vitamin D deficiency symptom can be light sensitivity (my level is 50ng/ml). Or, if you have some other idea, I’d be glad to hear…

I started the CT protocol yesterday,
today is my second day. I am not doing
the leptin protocol, but I am trying to
decrease carbohydrates and increase protein
and fat.

I am 5’10, 30 years young and weight 85kg. The weight looksgood on me, but I do have a tummy unfortunately.
Sex drive is low and erections are sometimes ok,
but usually not. I have CFS for about a decade
now, it all started because I had celiac disease from
birth without knowing it. I had jaundice, high bilirubin and slightly enlarged liver. Probably all signs of a liver full of fat.

I am pretty sure I have adrenal issues+testosterone
GH issues. That is why the CT appeals to me. So
yesterday I started by taking two cold showers, around
25-30 degrees celsius. I tried do sleep without blankets,
for a few hours. Today again two cold showers. I usually
like very long warm showers as I feel cold, without energy and the shower makes me somewhat ok. Always washing my hands with warm water usually.

Today was the first time in many years that I woke up
without having acid reflux issues!! My guess would be that my body felt the cold and cranked up/improved digestion.

I am also taking 0.25 mg ever other day of arimidex to control E2. All my tean years I sweated like crazy, never knew anything about high estrogen. My friends would have like a few drops of sweat after exercise whereas I would be soaking wet! The arimidex decreases sweating very much!If I forget my dosage, the sweating starts again!
I hope this CT protcol with a low carbohydrate, high protein and fat diet will heal me. Anyway thanks for your
effort in trying to help people

A few are taking a stab and guessing about Factor X… Would you even tell us if we nailed it? You don’t have to answer that, but let me take a stab…. Does Factor X have anything to do with our mind and willpower?

@cgk, I feel your pain here. I’ve been fighting off cold type sx for a few days now. I have backed off for the present but am starting again to night with less cold water. I continued to do face plunges though. I did the usual virus tx for me, plenty of Vit C, drink extra water, make sure the bowels are moving, and I took a hot mustard bath (get some at a health food store.)Ginger tea, clove tea (vary these). Sometimes the hyperness, stuffy nose and coughing and skin itching are due to toxins being released (thanks Dr. K.) As soon as these lessen it’s back to the cool baths and decrease the temp as you feel better. I am also waiting for my lab tests to come in to see what I need to adjust so i can tolerate the CT. I also have issues with allergies here in the High desert SW USA. Surprisingly I have found Myrrh very helpful on an as needed basis.

I am trying to help my sister get healthy. She is 27 years old, and obese (240 lbs at 5’1). We’re going to start the leptin reset for her, and slowly work in CT.

The main problem we have here though is that she had her gallbladder removed. Is the leptin reset/CT still possible for her? I know she’ll have problems digesting fat, so what should we do in her case?

I’ve spent 6 days of 5,6,7,8,10 & 12 minutes starting @ 65F and working down to 58F shower in the morning (majority of time water on back of neck and upper chest). I do this after eating a high-protein / healthy fat breakfast w/ two glasses ice water. I also started with Bitter Melon today.

– Last week my weight and HIIT workouts were outstanding.
– Two of the mornings, my fasting BG was 94 mg/dL – first time in months below 100. Tonight my BG was 81 in the early evening (I’ve not used any prescription meds to control BG since T2D diagnosis 27 months ago).
– Sleep has only been about 5hrs per night for some reason (opposite of what most have been experiencing when they start CT, I think). Down from around 7hrs. avg. per night and this weekend I didn’t feel like afternoon naps as I normally do. However this evening I’ve been very tired. I use the Zeo Sleep Manager and that has indicated poor sleep also.
– Very good / relaxed mood all day long even though very busy at work last week.
– My wife commented that wrinkles have almost disappeared from around my eyes.
– The dark circles normally under my eyes are practically gone.
– Sounds odd but I swear I’m getting faster beard growth.
– I’ve gained a couple pounds but look a bit leaner (limbs more vascular than usual).

I use the shower for CT b/c it fits into my schedule very well. Do you have any data suggesting this is an inferior way to do CT (in other words, could the rapid improvements above be all placebo, so I may need to take a step back and restart the CT protocol using other methods you have described elsewhere?).

Am I right that your thinking on omega 6:3 ratios has changed somewhat? Previously it seemed that you thought the lower the better, with 1:1 as ideal, but now you are mentioning 4:1 as ideal, and referencing Patricia Kane.

This is important to me because I tested at less than 2:1, which shocked me because I am very unhealthy right now (major metabolic/glycemic/hormonal derangement) and expected that my omega 6:3 ratio would be sky high.

Initially I took the low ratio as good news, but now I am wondering if it is in fact TOO LOW.

Could you clarify your current thinking? And if less than 2:1 is indeed too low, what should be done about it? (Dr. Kane promotes a sunflower oil/flax oil supplement, but I can’t imagine that you agree with that!)